Durham’s first Publix grocery store opens this week. Here’s what to know.

Brooke Cain
Publix photo

Pub subs. Key lime pies. Fried chicken. Plato, the dinosaur mascot.

Durham is about to learn the pleasures of Publix, a much-loved Florida-based grocery chain opening in the Bull City this week.

The nearly 47,000-square-foot store at Marketplace at Ellis Crossing opens at 7 a.m. Wednesday (March 15). Marketplace at Ellis Crossing is a 30-acre mixed-use development located in Research Triangle Park, near the Durham Freeway and about five miles from downtown Durham.

Publix, which will employ about 130 people, anchors the new shopping center, which has also signed Chipotle, Heartland Dental, It’s a Southern Thing and Lee Nails.

The Ellis Crossing store is the chain’s first in the Durham market.

Publix grocery stores in the Triangle

Publix was founded in Winter Haven, Florida, in 1930. The employee- and family-owned company lists on its website 1,331 store locations in Florida and across the southeast.

In the Triangle, Publix has two stores in Raleigh and three in Cary, plus stores in Apex, Wake Forest, Wendell and Clayton.

Additional Publix stores are in the works, according to previous News & Observer reporting, including:

  • a store at the intersection of Buffaloe and Forestville roads in northeast Raleigh

  • a store at Latta Park, at the southeast corner of Guess and Latta roads in Durham

  • a store in the Wallbrook development in Rolesville

According to April 2022 Chain Store Guide, Publix is ninth in market share in the CBSA (core based statistical area) that includes Raleigh. Harris Teeter currently has the largest market share in the CBSA that includes Durham, with Walmart and Food Lion following.

Location of new Durham Publix

▪ Publix at Marketplace at Ellis Crossing is at 1065 Yunus Road, Durham, NC.

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