Publix to close Saturday

Longboat Key’s Publix will close its doors at 9 p.m. this Saturday to make room for a new, 49,000-square-foot Avenue of the Flowers store.

The new store is slated to open before the end of this year, but for the eight months between now and then, the island will be without a supermarket for the first time in nearly 32 years.

But local businesses are working to make shopping more of a pleasure in the meantime.

Harry Christensen, owner of Harry’s Continental Kitchens, will keep his restaurant and deli open for the month-and-a-half that he usually shuts down for the summer, although he might have to close for a week or two during September for repairs. Christensen has worked to make his deli more Publix-like, offering more breads and cold cuts. At Harry’s Corner Store, he is offering more hot items and fresh sandwiches and could also add items such as roasted chickens.

“I’m just taking it as it comes,” Christensen said. “We’re always adding new items.”

Reed Savidge, whose Quik-N-EZ convenience store opened in February at the site of the former 7-Eleven, plans to offer produce by the end of the week. Already, he has started offering Boar’s Head sandwiches, soups, meats and cheeses.

“We’re trying to listen,” Savidge said. “Whatever people want, just tell us.”

Nazeela Rahman-Shaw, co-owner of BP Longboat Key, told the Longboat Observer in February that she would likely offer an enhanced selection of dairy products and freshly baked goods throughout the construction period.

Publix’s closing comes nine months after the Lakeland-based chain first filed plans with the town to redevelop the Avenue of the Flowers shopping center. Plans also call for a new 13,000-square-foot CVS, however, the current store will remain open throughout the new store’s construction. The Longboat Key Town Commission approved three outline-development plan amendments and a site plan for the property in February, and last month, Publix began doing preliminary site work in the property’s parking lot.

Publix will likely tear down its existing store and begin work on its new parking area in May. The new CVS is scheduled to open in September, with demolition of the old CVS planned for October. The new Publix is scheduled to open in December.

The new store will have a pharmacy, coffee area, enhanced selections of wines and cheeses, salad bar, soup bar, a Pacific wok station carrying Pan-Asian dishes and a large selection of international foods.