TAMPA, Fla. — As Hurricane Ian continues to strengthen into a major Category 3 hurricane moving toward the west coast of Florida, Publix is responding.
That includes modifying store hours and, in many cases, planning to close stores around the Tampa Bay area as soon as this evening.
To check on the plan in place for your nearest Publix, you'll want to follow a few steps:
- First, go to this website. It shows an overview of all Publix stores and will give you an idea of the stores that are closing or staying open for normal operations.
- Second, to focus on just stores that are experiencing disruptions, click the toggle button on the right-hand side next to "Publix Modified Store Hours."
- If you then click the drop-down arrow to the right below that area, you will then see a full list of stores with modified hours or closings. At that point, you can then find a specific store. You can also zoom in on the map and click on a specific store to see its changes.
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Here's a breakdown of some of the closures:
Tampa Bay area and Florida Gulf Coast Publix closings
Publix has announced stores in the following counties will close tonight, Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. and plan to reopen Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 a.m.
- Charlotte
- Collier
- DeSoto
- Hernando
- Hillsborough
- Lake
- Lee
- Manatee
- Pasco
- Pinellas
- #1562 (located at 200 Island Way, Clearwater) will close at 3 p.m. today (9/27)
- #139 (located at 4655 Gulf Blvd, St. Pete Beach) will close at 3 p.m. today (9/27)
- #1149 (located at 111 104th Ave., Treasure Island) will close at 3 p.m. today (9/27)
- Sarasota
The following counties are expected to remain open until 4 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 28, then close through Thursday, Sept. 29, and reopen on Friday, Sept. 30.
- Polk
- Highlands