Publix plans to close its store on Tom Hill Sr. Boulevard in Macon, open a new location

A popular supermarket is closing one of its stores in Macon, but it plans to open a new location around the same time.

Publix, a supermarket chain, will shutter its Tom Hill Sr. Boulevard location, although the closing date has not been confirmed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, said Nicole Krauss, a media relations manager for Publix, in an email.

“Closing a store is a difficult decision comprised of many factors, none of which we take lightly,” Krauss said, in an email.

Publix plans to open a new location at Tobesofkee Crossing, a shopping center that is being built at the Thomaston Road and Tucker Road intersection.

The new location will be the largest Publix in Macon at more than 48,000 square feet, and it will have a Publix pharmacy.

The original plan was to open the new store between June and August of 2020, but an opening date has not been announced due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Although the new location is not a replacement store, employees at the Tom Hill Sr. Boulevard location will be given the opportunity to transfer to the new store, Krauss said, and the supermarket will employ around 125 people.

“Therefore, no layoffs will take place. Publix has never had a layoff in our 90-year history,” she said in the email.

Tobesofkee Crossing, which is being developed by JWA Ventures, will also have 20,000 square feet of additional retail space.

The shopping center was approved by the Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission in October and planned to open between April and June of 2020, according to a Telegraph article.