At last! New Publix opened doors for grocery shoppers Wednesday in Beaufort Plaza

The long-awaited Publix grocery store officially opened Wednesday morning in Beaufort Plaza.

The 48,387-square-foot store is located at 33 Robert Smalls Parkway at the intersection of the parkway and Boundary Street.

“We are very excited for the opening of our newest Publix location,” said Hannah Herring, Publix media relations manager, in a news release.

Based on the number of social media posts, it seems local shoppers were excited about the opening, too.

Major renovations of the shopping plaza were announced and Beaufort’s only indoor theater was torn down in August 2018. About that time, documents filed with the City of Beaufort showed Publix was interested in the location. Those plans were made official two years later in August 2020.

The changes at the shopping center followed the $33 million Boundary Street redevelopment project that made one of the city’s main thoroughfares more welcoming.

Originally, construction on the Publix location was scheduled to begin in January 2021 with an opening that fall, however site work was being done in June 2021.

In December, Five Guys and Chipotle, along with Lowcountry Urgent Care and Burke’s HomeCentric, announced they would be joining existing tenants Burkes Outlet, Staples, Big Lots and Aaron’s appliance and electronics store in Beaufort Plaza.

The Publix location offers the typical departments for groceries, dairy, seafood, meat and produce along with a floral department, a full-service bakery, a deli and a pharmacy. Hours for the store are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. The pharmacy is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

It is the 8th Publix location in Beaufort and Jasper counties.