Publix will give Weston residents a treat on Halloween when it opens a new supermarket at 7 a.m. Thursday in this growing city.
The 48,000-square-foot supermarket will be the first of the major stores to open in the Weston Lakes Shopping Plaza at Indian Trace and Saddle Club roads.
Residents say they hope the store will help relieve crowding at the city’s only other supermarket, a Publix in the Country Isles Plaza, which was built a decade ago on Weston’s eastern boundary. Since then, the city has grown to 18,000 residents.
Although the two supermarkets will be less than three miles apart, the new store is a welcome addition to the community and much more centrally located.
“Hopefully, [the new Publix) will take a load off of this store. There’s no parking and it’s always so crowded,” said Weston resident Becky Wunch, who said she will continue to shop at the Country Isles store.
But residents who expect to shop at the new center wonder whether the situation will be any better there.
“It’s very busy here,” said Linda Bick, a Weston resident who was shopping at Country Isles. “But it may be just as congested there [at the new center) because there are so many homes in that area.”
Bick’s husband, Ely, said he is looking forward to shopping closer to home.
But other Weston residents say they will go out of their way to beat the crowds.
“I’m going to go wherever it is less crowded,” said Lora Fossler, who said the new shopping plaza is closer to her home. “I’ll drive the extra distance to not have the crowds.”
Shop owners in the Country Isles Plaza say they are not worried that the new center will take business away.
“I’m happy because it will make the parking easier here,” said Angie Lowe, who owns Victorian Reflections. “The more shops the better.”
A Publix spokeswoman said shoppers can expect some differences between the two stores.
“We are making improvements every year. These will be two completely different stores,” said Jennifer Bush, a corporate spokeswoman for Publix. This will be the chain’s 54th location in Broward County. It will employ 260 people.
The new store will include a pharmacy, a deli, a bakery, a floral department, a seafood department and a photo processing center.
In addition to the Publix, the 94,000-square-foot shopping plaza will house Eckerd’s, Blockbuster Video and various retail shops and restaurants.
Hours at the new Publix will be from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday.
