George W. Jenkins opened the first Publix Food Store in Winter Haven on September 6, 1930. A second followed in 1935, and in 1940 he opened the larger Publix Super Market that helped establish the company's reputation for ambitious store design and customer service.
The first store was a downtown gamble
Jenkins had managed a Piggly Wiggly in Winter Haven before leaving to create his own business. The original Publix Food Store opened at 58 Fourth Street NW, and the building still stands with a historical marker recognizing the company's beginning.
The 1940 store changed the scale
Jenkins traveled looking for ideas and returned with a vision for a more modern supermarket. Publix describes the 1940 Winter Haven store as a marble, glass and stucco 'food palace' with then-unusual conveniences including air conditioning, fluorescent lighting and automatic doors.
The company moved; the origin story did not
Publix later expanded through the acquisition of Lakeland Grocery Company and established its larger operational base in Lakeland. Winter Haven still owns the beginning of the story: the first store and the first Publix Super Market both opened here.
It is the kind of local history hiding in plain sight
A national brand can make its birthplace feel ordinary to people who see the sign every week. That is exactly why LocalWinterHaven should tell this story: local identity is often buried in places residents pass without thinking about how far the idea eventually traveled.
Make it current
Use the live calendar before you lock in the day. A festival, home game, museum program, concert or road closure can change the best version of this plan.