Publix to begin testing Starbucks kiosks in stores

Sep 13, 2016, 4:59pm EDT Updated Sep 13, 2016, 5:02pm EDT

Ashley Gurbal KritzerSenior ReporterTampa Bay Business Journal

Venti lattes and grande Frappuccinos will soon be served alongside Pub subs inside some Publix Super Markets Inc. stores.

Publix is planning to replace an in-house cafe at the store on West Gandy Boulevard in South Tampa with a 286-square-foot Starbucks kiosk, the company confirmed Tuesday.

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Publix will begin testing Starbucks kiosks in its stores.

"We are excited to begin testing Starbucks in our Gandy Shopping Center location," Publix spokesman Brian West wrote in an email. "It will be a great enhancement to the shopping experience for our customers."

West said there will be other Starbucks kiosks in other stores, but "the locations and timing are still being developed."

Publix in recent years has added a number of upscale touches to its stores, including large prepared foods selections, natural and organic products and expanded beer and wine departments.

Bringing in cafes operated by a global name like Starbucks is another way for Publix to step up its shopping experience. That's more important than ever for the Lakeland grocer, which will face off against New York-based Wegmans Food Markets Inc. for the first time in Virginia and North Carolina.

Starbucks Inc. (NYSE: SBUX) has had a partnership with Target Corp. since 1999, and there are more than 1,300 Starbucks cafes inside Target stores. Starbucks also operates cafes inside some Safeway stores, including a recently opened one in Largo.

The Publix on Gandy Boulevard where the company will build the first kiosk is next door to a Target — but that store doesn't have a Starbucks cafe inside. There is a drive-thru Starbucks in the same shopping center, fronting Gandy Boulevard.