Publix Super Markets Inc. has acquired almost 57 acres in West Jacksonville next to its distribution center, but does not plan immediate development, a spokesman said this morning.
"We purchased this property adjacent to our Beaver Street warehouse facilities for future opportunities with no immediate plans for use," said Dwaine Stevens, Publix media and community relations manager.
In a sale recorded Nov. 19, Publix Super Markets Inc. paid $3.07 million for vacant property at 10319 General Ave. It bought the land from R.L.R. Investments LLC of Wilmington, Ohio.
Property records show the 56.57-acre property comprises about 50 acres for light industrial use and the remainder is a retention pond and swamp. The land was valued at $2.17 million for tax purposes for 2012.
Records show Publix already owns almost 90 acres at 9786 and 9800 W. Beaver St. for a distribution center and refrigerated warehouse operations. For 2012, the properties carried a combined taxable value of $30.8 million.
Duval County Property Appraiser records show at 9786 W. Beaver St., Publix has 10 buildings, including a mega-warehouse. At 9800 W. Beaver St., it has four buildings of refrigerated, cold-storage and distribution warehouse use.
Lakeland-based Publix was founded in 1930 in Winter Haven and is the largest employee-owned supermarket chain in the U.S., according to its website, publix.com.
It said it is one of the 10 largest-volume supermarket chains in the United States and posted $27 billion in retail sales in 2011. It has more than 154,500 employees.
Publix has 1,066 locations in the five states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee. Its largest market is Florida, with 755 stores, followed by Georgia, at 180.
There are 51 Publix stores in Alabama, 47 in South Carolina and 33 in Tennessee.
To serve those stores, Publix operates eight distribution centers, with seven in Florida and one in Lawrenceville, Ga. The Florida centers are in Jacksonville, Boynton Beach, Deerfield Beach, Lakeland, Miami, Orlando and Sarasota.
It also has five manufacturing facilities in Florida and Georgia. The Jacksonville facility produces fresh foods.
In September, Publix announced a move into North Carolina. It said it signed a lease for a store in the Charlotte area in Ballantyne. The store will be part of a new division based in Charlotte and the store opening is tentatively planned for early 2014.
"While Ballantyne marks Publix's long awaited entry into North Carolina, the company is looking ahead to continued growth within the state and in its current operating areas of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee," Publix said.
On Nov. 1, Publix announced third-quarter sales, for the three months ending Sept. 30, grew 4.4 percent to $6.7 billion this year from $6.4 billion last year. Comparable-store sales, which are sales at stores open for a year or more, rose 2.5 percent.
Net earnings for the third quarter were $368.4 million, up 18.1 percent from $311.9 million in 2011.
Sales for the first nine months rose 3.9 percent to $20.5 billion from $19.7 billion. Comparable-store increased 2.6 percent.
Net earnings rose 6.1 percent to $1.2 billion from $1.1 billion in 2011, an increase of 6.1 percent.
In October, the Daily Record reported the September edition of the Shelby Report of the Southeast ranked Publix as the No. 2 Southeast retailer with 1,053 stores and average total weekly sales of $418 million. The rankings were by store count.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was the top retailer in the Southeast by store count, with 1,100 Supercenters generating total average weekly sales of $1.56 billion.
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