SUFFOLK, Va. — A popular Florida-based grocery store chain is expanding its presence in Hampton Roads.
"We are pleased to announce that Publix Super Markets has executed a lease on a new store location in Suffolk, VA," Publix Media Relations Manager Jared Glover said in a statement on Thursday.
"Publix at Planters Station" will be located at the southwest corner of Godwin Boulevard and Kings Fork Road. It's estimated to be about 45,000 square feet in size.
There had been rumors earlier this year about Publix's expansion into Suffolk, as well as Norfolk. City of Suffolk spokesperson Tim Kelley previously told 13News Now that the city could "confirm that a high-end grocer is nearing site plan approval related to a location at Kings Fork Road and Godwin Boulevard in the Planters Station Development."
There's no word yet on when the Suffolk location is expected to open.
In the meantime, officials in Norfolk say a Publix is planned near the campus of Old Dominion University. Publix has not confirmed that location, however, and there is also no timeline for its opening.
The first Publix opened in 1930 in Florida and the company has grown to more than 1,000 stores across the Southeast. It often ranks near the top of the most popular grocery stores in the United States.
There are currently two Publix stores in the region: one in Williamsburg, and the other in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, both of which opened in 2018.