Publix expands in Charlotte again, sets opening for its next grocery store
Publix has set the opening date for its next grocery store in Charlotte.
The Publix at 12925 Albemarle Road in east Charlotte will open at 7 a.m. May 28, the Florida-based chain said Wednesday. The store will hire about 140 full- and part-time employees.
The nearly 47,000-square-foot Clear Creek Crossings store will be its 25th in the Charlotte market.
Just last month, Publix opened a 55,477-square-foot grocery store at 11525 Carmel Commons Blvd.
The Publix expansion is the latest move in the fierce $10.4 billion grocery store competition in the Charlotte region. Publix ranks fourth by market share behind retail giant Walmart, Matthews-based Harris Teeter and Salisbury-based Food Lion, respectively, according to sales tracking firm Chain Store Guide.
There are 729 grocery stores in the Charlotte region, down from 745 last year, according to the report.
The region’s intense grocery store competition was cited as one of the factors for Asheville-based specialty grocer Earth Fare closing its last remaining store in Charlotte. In January, the Ballantyne store at 12235 N. Community House Road closed. Earth Fare still has stores in the Charlotte region with one in Concord, and two in South Carolina in Fort Mill and Rock Hill.
Publix expansion in the Charlotte market
Publix opened its first North Carolina store in Ballantyne in 2014.
Last October, Publix debuted its more than 50,000-square-foot store at 1254 Coddle Creek Highway in Mooresville. Publix is planning to open at least five more stores in the Charlotte region:
▪ A 50,325-square-foot grocery store in Wesley Chapel will open on the southeast corner of Weddington and Waxhaw Indian Trail roads in Union County.
▪ The Arboretum store at Providence and Pineville-Matthews roads construction is underway.
▪ A 28,000-square-foot store at the 10 Tryon building on the northwest corner of Tryon and Ninth streets in uptown is planned.
▪ A 68,000-square-foot store at the corner of Sharon and Colony roads in South Park.
No updates were available on those store projects on Wednesday.
More grocery store openings
Several more grocery stores have recently opened or plan to open in the Charlotte market, including:
▪ In January, Food Lion opened a store at 155 Crosstie Lane in Troutman, about 35 miles north of uptown Charlotte in Iredell County. The company opened three stores in the Charlotte area since 2022 at 2201 West W. T. Harris Blvd. and 5939 Weddington Road in Charlotte, and 11745 Statesville Blvd. in Cleveland.
▪ Sprouts Farmers Market will open a 21,000-square-foot store this 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 also has a store in Ballantyne.
▪ Discount German grocer Aldi will open a store at 9605 N. Tryon St. by this summer.
▪ The West Boulevard Coalition is opening Charlotte’s first cooperative grocery store, Three Sisters Market. The full-service grocery store will debut this year in an area that has been without a traditional supermarket for over 30 years.
▪ Last July, Matthews Board of Commissioners approved changes to a grocery store plan with illustration signage similar to Trader Joe’s in a 13,5000-square-foot building at Matthews Gateway on East John Street.
▪ Last May, Mecklenburg County commissioners approved incentives of $1.5 million for California-based grocer Spangler’s to build an 8,000-square-foot store at Kohler and Statesville avenues, north of uptown.
▪ In 2026, Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans will make its Charlotte debut with a 110,000-square-foot grocery store on the east side of Ballantyne in south Charlotte.
▪ Harris Teeter will open two 60,000-square-foot stores in York County, The Herald previously reported. The 5366 Hwy. 55 E. store in Lake Wylie is expected to open in fall 2026. A Fort Mill store on Fort Mill Parkway also is expected to open in 2026.
▪ Historic West End Partners will open a 15,000-square-foot cooperative grocery store in partnership with Weaver Street Market, which has four stores in the Raleigh region. It’s part of the grassroots group’s larger development plan that includes 290 apartments.
This story was originally published April 23, 2025 at 10:49 AM with the headline "Publix expands in Charlotte again, sets opening for its next grocery store."