Publix expanding again in the Charlotte region, this time at a Union County site
Publix Super Market is expanding again in the Charlotte region, with plans to open its third store in Union County.
The 50,325-square-foot grocery store in Wesley Chapel will open on the southeast corner of Weddington and Waxhaw Indian Trail roads, the Lakeland, Florida-based chain said Wednesday. A timeframe for the opening has not yet been set.
The store will hire about 150 full- and part-time employees.
The Wesley Chapel location at Village Commons shopping center is less than 6 miles east of a Publix at Marvin Gardens in Waxhaw and about 5 miles southwest of the Monroe store at Market at Shoppes at Hanfield Village.
Charlotte grocery store competition
The Publix expansion comes among the Charlotte market’s heated $10.2 billion competition, according to sales tracking firm Chain Store Guide. There are 745 grocery stores in the region, up from 722 in 2020, according to the guide.
Publix opened its first North Carolina store in Ballantyne in early 2014, and ranks fourth by market share behind retail giant Walmart, Matthews-based Harris Teeter and Salisbury-based Food Lion, respectively.
Publix in Wesley Chapel will open near a Harris Teeter, which anchors the southwest corner of the initial phase of Village Commons.
More Publix supermarkets planned
In October, Publix opened its 23rd store in the Charlotte market at 1254 Coddle Creek Highway in Mooresville.
Along with Wesley Chapel, at least five more Publix stores are planned in Charlotte:
▪ A 55,000-square-foot store with a drive-thru and a proposed private drive at 11525 Carmel Commons is expected to open next year.
▪ The Arboretum store at Providence and Pineville-Matthews roads construction is underway. An update was not available by Thursday morning.
▪ A 28,000-square-foot store at the 10 Tryon building on the northwest corner of Tryon and Ninth streets in uptown is planned. More details were not available Thursday.
▪ Clear Creek Crossings development on the corner of Albemarle and Rocky River Church roads No updates were available Thursday.
▪ A 68,000-square-foot store at the corner of Sharon and Colony roads in South Park. No updates were available Thursday.
Other grocery stores are opening
Several other grocery stores are planning to open in the Charlotte market, including:
▪ Sprouts Farmers Market will open a 21,000-square-foot store next summer at the One NoDa Park development on the corner of 36th and Tryon streets in Charlotte. It will be the third location for the Phoenix-based grocer, which opened a store in Steele Creek in fall 2023 and has a store in Ballantyne.
▪ In July, Matthews Board of Commissioners approved changes to a grocery store plan with illustration signage similar to Trader Joe’s. Town officials, the developer and Trader Joe’s have not confirmed which grocer will open in the 13,5000-square-foot stand-alone building at Matthews Gateway on East John Street.
▪ In May, Mecklenburg County commissioners OK’d $1.5 million for California-based grocer Spangler’s to build a 8,000-square-foot store at Kohler and Statesville avenues, north of uptown.
▪ Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans will debut in 2026 with a 110,000-square-foot grocery store on the east side of Ballantyne in south Charlotte.
▪ The West Boulevard Coalition is opening Charlotte’s first cooperative grocery store, Three Sisters Market. The full-service grocery store will debut in an area that has been without a traditional supermarket for over 30 years.