Crowd lines up for opening of Lexington’s first Publix: ‘The In-N-Out of grocery stores’
Publix officially opened its doors in Lexington on Wednesday and the shoppers turned out in droves.
Before the 7 a.m. opening, fans of “Pubbing” as devotees refer to shopping at the store, were lined up and waiting to experience the new competition for Kroger, which dominates the Fayette County grocery market and is opening a new store a mile and a half away.
At the very front was Israel Smith, a Lexington native, who had never been to a Publix before today, he said. He got to the store at 1952 Stockton Way just off Citation Boulevard at 4:45 a.m. “to make sure I beat the crowd.”
The big draw? “The deli,” he said. “Big sandwich fan.” He planned to get one of the famed Pub Subs to take to his job at the University of Kentucky for lunch.
Just in line behind him were Karen and Larry Eason, also of Lexington. Larry Eason, a native of Huntsville, Ala., who knows all about Publix, said they got up at 4 a.m. to get there. He also planned to head straight for the deli and the subs.
“The chicken sub is the hot ticket,” he said. “She’s been hearing me talk about it ever since they broke ground. Those subs! Gotta go! It’s never too early.’
They live on the north side of Lexington just off Leestown and usually shop at Kroger but plan to change that.
“We don’t like it. We know Publix. They’re cleaner, their employees are nicer, it’s a different level. It’s like the In-N-Out of grocery stores, and if you know how In-N-Out is ....,” Karen Eason said with a knowing nod.
Publix brings its deli, subs, produce & bakery
Janet Gambrel, who lives on Richmond Road, got there at 5 a.m. for the fresh fruits and vegetables, which she thinks will be better because they are shipped up directly from Florida. She’d never been to a Publix before either. Will she switch from Kroger?
“I don’t know. You don’t know until you get in the door. It’s my first trip,” she said.
But next to her, Shawn Ezell, a native of Venice, Fla., had been filling her in on his favorites. “The subs, the tea, the subs are excellent, the bread is excellent, the tea is really good,” he said. “We don’t have anything like this in Lexington.”
Well, now we do.
After a few words from Mayor Linda Gorton, who welcomed the employee-owned Florida grocery to the Bluegrass, and a quick snip of the green ribbon by first customer Israel Smith, the doors opened and the crowd of more than 100 customers poured in.
Many headed straight for the deli, where the line for subs quickly backed up into produce. To keep people happy, an assistant bakery manager passed out free Publix-baked chocolate chip cookies. And the management posted an employee at front door to help facilitate online ordering so customers could shop while their subs were prepared and pick them up before checking out.
Bourbon hunters wait for Publix Liquors to open
Next door, at the Publix Liquors store, about a dozen hardy bourbon hunters waited in folding chairs for the liquor store to open at 9 a.m. Doug Demarcus of Lexington arrived at 5:15 a.m. He and several others were hoping to get some rare allocated bottles that usually aren’t readily available in local stores.
“Hopefully a BTAC (Buffalo Trace Antique Collection) bottle,” he said. He hoped to add this store to his regular stops to add to his collection. Nearby, Geo Perez drove over from Frankfort to line up at 5:40 a.m. He recently moved to Kentucky from Florida and said Publix stores are known to get lots of Buffalo Trace bottles. He has a 70-bottle collection and was hoping to pick up a Stagg.
The northside store is the first of at least three Publix coming to Lexington; a larger store at the Fountains of Palomar off Harrodsburg Road and Man o’ War is expected to open by summer. Another smaller store will be coming to Romany Road in Chevy Chase in a former Kroger.
The new Publix is in the Citation Point shopping center, which is still under construction. Many new businesses will be coming to the site, including a new Papi’s Mexican Restaurant, 7 Brew Coffee drive-thru kiosk, City Barbeque, Chipotle, Wendy’s, Panda Express and more.
Publix at Citation Point
Where: 1952 Stockton Way
Hours: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
Online: Publix.com
This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 9:12 AM.
