LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Publix broke ground on its first Kentucky store Thursday. The store will open in Louisville later in 2023.

The Terra Crossing Shopping Center, just off Old Henry Road in Louisville, will feature a 55,701-square-foot store, a drive-thru pharmacy and a 3,200-square-foot liquor store. This is the first Publix Liquors located outside of Florida.

In a statement, Publix CEO Todd Jones said, “When our founder, George Jenkins, opened the first Publix store, he wanted to create a better grocery store — one that kept associates and customers top of mind. More than 90 years later, we’ve kept true to our values, including supporting the communities in which we live and work. We look forward to sharing the Publix difference with Kentuckians.” 

Publix already announced a second Louisville location would be built at Ballardsville Road and Brownsboro Road. That store is set to open early in 2024.

The Florida-based company used today’s groundbreaking to announce it would build a third Kentucky store at the Fountains of Palomar, which will be at Man O’War Boulevard and Harrodsburg Road in Lexington. That store is scheduled to open at the end of 2024.

Following the groundbreaking, company representatives went to the Dare to Care food bank and unloaded and sorted 40,000 pounds of produce donated by the company. Since 2021, Publix has been making biweekly produce donations to Dare to Care. The partnership has allowed the food bank to share over 775,000 pounds of produce with those in need. It is part of its Publix Serves program. Publix Serves started in 2015 and is one of many community outreach programs the grocery chain takes part in.

Editor's note: A previous version of this story stated the first Louisville store would open later this year. It will actually open in late 2023.