PALM BAY, Fla. – Publix has announced the opening of a new store in Central Florida coming next month.
According to the chain’s website, the store is scheduled to open on Dec. 5 in Palm Bay at the Shoppes at Cypress Bay (9179 Babcock Street).
Recommended Videos
The store is set to span over 48,000 square feet, and host a pharmacy and liquor shop.
A spokesperson for Publix told News 6 that the new store will also feature a second-story indoor seating area for customers.
However, the store will be lacking a key component that customers can find at other stores: namely, the chain’s signature Publix scales.
These scales date back to 1930, when the first Publix store was opened in Florida. In the chain’s early years, it decided to make these scales free for customers to use — something that typically required money during this time because people didn’t have scales in their homes.
“Our founder, having the vision to be a customer service expert, he thought having scales in the store without having our customers pay for it would be a treat — and it was,” said Dwaine Stevens, who worked for Publix for around four decades.
However, customers won’t find any scales in Publix stores outside of Florida and Georgia. And that’s because there are only a few left.
Publix officials told News 6 that the scales’ manufacturer — Mettler Toledo — stopped making them a few years ago.
“The manufacturer ceased production in 2015, meaning that one day — although our wonderful repair shop keeps our remaining machines in great shape — the last Publix scale will retire,” Publix wrote. “When scales are taken out of a store, they go for a spruce-up in our repair shop. They could wind up going to another store, or they may be held for parts to utilize in other scales.”
As a result, these scales won’t be coming to new Florida stores, the company explained.
Publix bought up as many of these scales as it could before Mettler Toledo stopped production, and the remaining scales are kept in stores or at a warehouse in Lakeland.
The main technician at the warehouse said the scales last quite a long time. He worked on one that was built in 1971.
The technician uses a Publix People Weigher Repair handbook. He said there are all types of repair issues, like when children swing on the arms and treat them like playground equipment.
A Publix manager said the second most common reason people use the scales is to weigh their luggage on the way to the airport. That way they can know if it’s too heavy before checking it with the airline.
According to Publix, the scales will stay in the Florida stores as long as the technicians can keep them operational.
Check out the Florida Foodie podcast. You can find every episode in the media player below: