Publix #394 - Courtyard Shops at Wellington - Wellington, FL

Photo courtesy of Patrick P. on Google Maps

Publix #394 / Future Publix #1894

13880 Wellington Trace, Wellington, FL - Courtyard Shops at Wellington

Today's post is a presentation of Palm Beach County retail

     Before we even get into the subject at hand today, I'd first like to make a shoutout to blog reader John B. for sending in two complete sets of Florida county outlines to be used on AFB & MFR. If you read blogs like The Mid-South Retail Blog and Twin Tiers Retail you'll have seen this feature before, with the county outlines at the tops of each post. It's a good feature - just not one I ever got around to trying myself! We'll see how this goes, although with the way I typically structure my posts, I'm going to insert the county outlines after the first photo. That aside, let's talk about Publix:

    As far as today's post is concerned, this one is going to be a bit unusual compared to one of my normal Publix tours. The Publix we'll be looking at today, store #394 in Wellington (a western suburb of West Palm Beach) closed for business on July 8, 2023. I only got word of that closure announcement from The Sing Oil Blogger and GeorgiaPubDude with only a few weeks notice, so unfortunately I wasn't able to visit this location before it closed for good. However, I was able to visit this store in the short period following its closure and prior to demolition for its replacement, so my photos of this store will showcase it in a weird transitional state - supermarket purgatory, I suppose, as this building awaits its final fate.

     Publix #394 opened for business on October 18, 1990 as part of a small retail cluster in the middle of Wellington, a grouping of two shopping centers across the street from each other that somewhat serves as the city's central business district. Like a lot of communities in Florida, Wellington is a sprawling primarily residential suburbia with a few shopping centers scattered around, planned out in the 1970's on former farm and pasture land. Publix #394 was actually Wellington's second Publix store, following the 1982 opening of store #243 at the Town Square of Wellington shopping center a few miles east of here. Store #243 met the same fate that #394 is about to back in 2004, so Wellington is no stranger to Publix's modernization efforts.

     While store #394 was a typical early 1990's 49N model inside, it received a really fancy facade that matched the theme of the shopping center. The arches, brickwork, and light sconces make this feel like a much more premium location, and considering the location, it was a fitting design choice. While Wellington isn't as opulent like the nearby Island of Palm Beach, this is a nice area that's home to a number of well-off folks, so Publix decided to class this store up a bit more than usual.

     Even at 33 years old, this store still looked immaculate. From the outside, this place doesn't even look that old! Inside it was more apparent we were looking at an older Publix location, but the building was still quite pristine inside too.

Photo courtesy of The Palm Beach Post

     One of the reasons I decided to swing by this store while I was in the area was to get a few photos of its tile mural, seen above (and you can see some angles of it in Google Street View here). As you know, the Publix tile murals are a dying breed and one of my favorite retail architectural features of all time. The mural at this store was one of Pati Mills' later works, from the era where she began to incorporate more local flare into her murals (compared to the generic murals of the cornucopia and wine bottles she had done earlier). For local flare, Pati created a golf course scene for this store's mural (Wellington is home to a number of famous country clubs), depicting a golfer making a swing, as well as another man in a small boat in a swampy area (which I believe is to represent Wellington's proximity to the Everglades - although he could just be out there trying to fish golf balls out of the lake, which is apparently a big thing). Since the interior of the store wasn't anything too out of the ordinary for a Publix from this era (and something I'm not too sad I missed out on), I was hoping I could get a few photos of the mural for my archives so that would be preserved. However - I made an interesting discovery during my visit:

     The mural was already gone! As soon as I pulled into the store's empty parking lot I noticed the mural was missing, but since I was already here, I had to get out and take a closer look. All that was left of the mural was a blank wall and a white powdery mess. While I would have loved to see the mural, I'm glad someone saved it, but this sight still raises a lot of questions:

1. Who took the time and effort to remove the mural from the wall? Was it a very dedicated store employee who wanted to see it live on? Or maybe some nutty Publix fan who really liked it and wanted to see it saved? (Don't look at me this time!) Possibly, could someone from corporate have saved it after years of flattening these with the buildings, a little remorse after destroying so many other murals?

2. How easily did the mural come off the wall? Publix has said for years the individual tiles were nearly impossible to remove in-tact due to the way they were installed. Clearly that's not the case, as someone got this mural off (although we don't know what kind of condition the tiles may have been in as they came off the wall).

3. Is this the work of the same person who took the mural from Publix #202 after it closed last year? I drove by Publix #202 shortly after it closed and noticed that store's mural was missing as well just days before its demolition. Due to what I saw at #202 previously, I was both surprised and not surprised by my discovery here in Wellington, but it did arouse a lot more questions, and more suspicion that corporate is the one removing the murals. I thought #202 could have been a one-off, but now I'm beginning to think there's a trend here...

4. Someone took the effort to save the mural, so where is it now? Did someone remove this for their own personal display at home? Is it going to be reassembled elsewhere for public display around town (or turned into stepping stones)? Is one of Pati Mills' children going around trying to save some of her works now, even though Pati seemed somewhat indifferent to the fate of most of the murals? Does Publix corporate have a closet full of broken tile pieces after years of regret from destroying numerous murals prior? It would be neat to see the mural reappear in some form on the new store, but I do know that #202's mural didn't reappear at its replacement, so I doubt it will reappear here. Hopefully it reappears somewhere though.

     We might not be looking at a tile mural anymore, but instead a wall of old grout that once held all the tiles to the wall. Whoever removed the tiles did a pretty good job, and I'd like to know just how well all the pieces came off the wall. It looks like some of the tile trim underneath had to be sacrificed to get the mural off though, so I wonder how intensive it was removing the mural.

     While we might not know how intense the mural removal process was, I can say for a fact it was an extremely dusty process. The entire area around the left entryway was covered in a layer of white dust, and that was extremely apparent when we look at all the dust on the entry doors:

     Tile mural dust everywhere, and I'd have to guess that extension cord coming out from under the door is what was used to power the saw that took the mural off the wall. Since the cord was still out here in a pile, I must have only missed seeing the mural by a day or two, as the person who removed it still hadn't come back for their cord!

     Even though it's a little dusty, here's a look at one of the papers announcing this store's closure taped to the window, directing shoppers to four other Publix stores nearby. Even though the store had been closed for a week by the time I got here, someone still pulled up to the store thinking it was open while I was here taking pictures. I thought the guy was going to say something to me since he clearly saw me taking pictures, but he didn't as seemed more annoyed that he had to drive up the road to a different Publix store!

     Strangely enough, while everything on this side of the building was coated in a layer of white dust, someone took the time to wipe the dust away from the classic Publix logo stenciled onto the glass of the front door. At older Publix stores (typically late 1980's and early 1990's stores), both sides of the sliding doors would have had this emblem stenciled onto the glass. It's a classic Publix trait that you can still find today, however, if the doors ever get replaced or the glass breaks, the logo isn't put back on. For example, the logo was only on the left-side door on this vestibule entrance, meaning the glass was replaced at some point on the right-side door.

     Since the logo was the only part of the door not covered in dust, I took this photo through the logo for a look inside the left vestibule. As you can see, the store was being prepped for a fixtures auction, with all of the old fixtures still inside, just lined up neatly and tagged with lot numbers. It would have been fun to go to the auction preview day, but I couldn't fit that into my schedule either, so these photos through the windows will have to suffice.

     Moving around to one of the front facing windows, here's a look into the main salesfloor. From this vestibule we can see part of the store's meat and seafood department on the back wall, with the bakery out of view to the left.

     While most split-vestibule Publix stores have a small sidewalk along the front of the building, most don't have a grandiose breezeway like this! To add to the detail, Publix even included more decorative hanging sconces and even ceiling fans above the walkway, adding a classy touch. This breezeway would have made for a nice outdoor dining area, but unfortunately outdoor dining tables are pretty rare to see at a Publix from this era. However, this apparently made for a very classy smoking area!

     In the store's front window was a poster announcing the upcoming fixture auction, which concluded on July 18, 2023. By the time this post goes live the fixture pickup window will have closed, and this store will be on its way to demolition come the week of July 24th.

     Turning our attention to the windows again, here's a look through the right side vestibule into the salesfloor. From this vantage point we can see the pharmacy in the old multi-purpose nook, as well as part of the dairy arch - one of the defining features of a 49N Publix. The green paint from the deli department is visible behind some of those grocery aisles, with the check lanes extending off to my left.

Photo courtesy of Philip M. of Google Maps

     While you can see bits and pieces of the faux skylight over the check lanes in my photos, I found this really nice photo of the entire skylight someone posted to Google. I figured I'd include this photo here since I liked it, and you can see more photos of this store's interior prior to closure here.

     Besides all the carts missing, the right side vestibule doesn't look too different than when Publix was still open! The pharmacy banner still hanging from the wall adds a somewhat surreal effect to the photo, as it adds to the thought of this being just a normal average day at Publix, when really, it isn't.

     It's really a shame to see another nice Publix store meet its fate, as this building looked like it still had another 33 years left in it. However, not even the nicest of buildings are safe from Publix's bulldozers of progress...

     While I've photographed a lot of abandoned grocery stores in my travels through the years, this one was a particularly strange experience, seeing the store in this weird state of post-closure and only days away from demolition, once all the fixtures were cleared out. The overall classy aesthetic of the building didn't help either, as you'd never think a building kept this nice was only a few days away from being hauled off to the Palm Beach County Landfill!

     On my way out, I managed to capture a photo of the sign Publix posted by the road announcing this store was closed for "remodeling". I always find it funny how Publix casually refers to these tear down and rebuild projects as "remodeling", which I guess it technically is, even if I view it more like Extreme Makeover: Supermarket Edition!

Photo courtesy of The Palm Beach Post

     We'll finish off this post with a rendering I found of #394's replacement, Publix #1894. #1894 will be one of Publix's new high-end 55M prototypes, exactly like store #1808 we saw on here not too long ago. With Wellington skewing toward a higher-end demographic, a 55M will fit in well at this location, and will certainly be a much dramatic upgrade compared to what was here prior. Based off the rendering, it appears #1894 will not have as many fancy exterior design details like #394 did, opting for a slight spin on the usual modern Publix facade. It would have been nice to see some arches or light sconces thrown in to match the design of the old architecture (or the rest of the plaza), but I guess we'll just have to see what #1894 looks like when the final product opens late next year.

     Anyway, that's all I have for now, but I do have another MFR post queued up for August, which will act as a companion for an upcoming AFB post. Also, posting will resume on AFB on July 30th with a guest post, with my official return happening two weeks later on August 13th. So you have all that to look forward to, as we continue our journey to the strange and nonsensical world of Floridian supermarkets.

So until the next post,

AFB