By TREY CHRISTY
trey.christy@newssun.com
AVON PARK -- Customers leaving the Avon Park Publix Saturday were upset, but knew they couldn't do anything about the store closing.
"I'm horrified. Who made this decision? I don't know?" said Jane Stevens of Zolfo Springs.
The store will close permanently at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 2.
A low volume of business and the opening of the new Publix store in late October, four and a half miles south in north Sebring's former Albertsons location, were cited as reasons for the closure by Maria Brous, of Publix media relations.
The Avon Park store also had to compete with the new Wal-Mart that opened mid-August and is further north in Avon Park, even closer than the new Sebring Publix.
Stevens lives seven miles off of U.S. 27 on State Road 64, but said she will make the trip into Sebring or another city to shop, but still at a Publix store.
"I will always shop Publix but I prefer the older Southgate center," she said when asked about the massive new Publix in Sebring. "They'll get me one way or another."
Wal-Mart didn't get Debbie George's money, either. She said she doesn't like their meats.
"I've shopped here for 10 years," said the Avon Park Lakes resident about the closing store.
She works in Sebring and plans on shopping at the new Publix on Thursdays on the way home instead of when it's convenient for her.
The Avon Park store employs dozens of local residents who will now have to make the trek to another Publix store or lose their jobs, although Brous said all associates will have an opportunity to transfer to other stores.
According to a customer service employee at the new Publix store in Sebring, the store is not currently hiring. The last hires they made were in December.
Mike Aubrey, assistant manager of the closing store, would not answer any questions, even about the future of his own employment with the company.
When asked if Saturday was a busy day for shopping, as five of the seven checkout lines in the store were open that morning, he said "well, it's Easter," and wouldn't discuss anything further.
Still, the brand certainly seems to have its fans in Avon Park, like resident John Paulitch.
"I wish they would stay open," he said. "I love shopping at Publix and all the little things they do."
There are currently more than 700 Publix stores in Florida, including four that opened in the past month.
Saturday, April 11, 2009 - www.newssun.com/0412-tc-avon-park-publix-close