Atlanta residents have grown used to navigating food deserts, but maybe not seeing one begin to form in one of the city's most prominent retail centers.

Publix Super Markets is set to shutter its store at 1380 Atlantic Drive in Midtown’s Atlantic Station on Dec. 27, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The store has been a fixture in the retail location for 20 years.

A spokesperson for the grocery chain, which has more than 220 stores in Georgia, didn’t offer a specific reason for the store’s pending closure to the AJC. Details on Publix’s lease were unclear as of press time.

Atlanta’s Tomorrow’s News Today also reported this week that Publix will be shuttering its smaller store at the Shallowford Exchange shopping center in Chamblee.

The Atlantic Station location is around 30K SF, according to the AJC. The grocer had planned to anchor a new West Midtown store at The Interlock project but pulled out of those plans last year. In its place, discount grocer Lidl opened at The Interlock in October.

The retail portion of Atlantic Station is owned by real estate giant Hines. The firm didn’t respond to a request for a comment as of press time.

But Hines, which acquired Atlantic Station in 2015, told the AJC that it plans to continue adapting spaces at the project.

“We have an opportunity to reimagine the space and consider concepts that will add new options and value to the surrounding community,” Hines told the AJC in a statement, adding that plans for what is now the Publix space will be shared when final.

Retail real estate veteran Laura King said Hines will have an uphill battle to re-lease such a prominent space, especially with another grocer.

“I think the natural progression of things is that it would be next in line for a Sprouts-type regional box. If you don’t land that, I don’t know what the hell it is,” said King, who is the founder of the retail brokerage firm Alcove Commercial. “Throwing in a Burlington Coat Factory is not the answer.”

Publix, with more than 1,400 stores throughout the Southeast, reported net earnings of $1.2B in the third quarter on sales of more than $15B. That represents a more than 5% increase in sales during the same period in 2024.

While not a publicly traded company, Publix does offer stock options for its employees and provides a limited public reporting of its earnings.