Chocolate chip cookies, cakes, breads, and muffins are just a few of the delights you’ll find in the Publix Bakery. As one of our most visited departments, we love providing you with both sweet and savory treats. But our stores didn’t always have an in-house bakery. Do you know how we came to offer such delicious baked goods in our stores? Keep reading to find out!
Bakery History
In the 1940s, grocery stores carried only a limited amount of bakery items. Some were provided by suppliers and other items were baked in the store.
Around 1950, George Jenkins, the founder of Publix, wanted to offer customers more in the way 
of baked goods. So, in an effort to do this, George Jenkins approached Emmett Lundy, owner of Lundy’s Bakery in Lakeland, Florida.
He proposed an idea of supplying local Publix stores with fresh-baked goods on a consistent basis. The proposal was accepted, and soon after, Lundy’s Bakery began delivering to Publix stores each day. When Mr. Lundy decided to retire in 1951, George Jenkins bought Lundy’s company and continued to supply the local stores from this central bakery.
Mr. Jenkins saw the value and convenience that in-store baked goods would bring to customers, and made a strong push to add bakeries to Publix stores. In 1957, the first Publix Danish Bakery store opened in the Southgate Shopping Center in Lakeland, Fla. It was located next to the store
Dale Olinger
in the shopping center. These adjacent bakeries spread to other locations, eventually moving inside the actual store as a bakery department with products baked fresh onsite in addition to products delivered from the central bakery. During the 1970s and 1980s, Publix opened just as many bakeries, as we did stores; if not more.
Fun Fact
The first Publix Bakery Manager, Dale Olinger, started our fruitcake recipe which is still in use today after more than 50 years!! Cool, right?
Expansion
In 1972, the Publix Bakery plant opened in Lakeland, employing 27 associates. Today, the facility is about 225,000 square feet, with more than 400 associates producing a variety of delicious baked goods. The focus was on having fresh baked products in every store and the plant was the support for helping our bakery system grow. Where we didn’t have bakeries at stores, a “box program” from the Bakery Plant with overnight delivery of fresh product was delivered 5 times a week. Ready-to-serve baked products such as muffins, crème cakes, cornbread, and cupcakes were processed in the plant.
In an effort to keep up with demand, in 2004, we added a second Bakery plant located in Atlanta, Georgia.
Fun Fact
One of the grand opening sale items in the first bakery was cinnamon rolls at 29 cents a dozen!
Highlights
1971 — Publix held a ground breaking ceremony for its 23,000 sq. ft. bakery plant on May 24, 1971.
1972 — Publix held the grand opening of the bakery plant on February 20, 1972.
1975 — Publix expanded the plant with an additional 24,000 square feet.
1982 — Publix celebrated the tenth anniversary of the bakery plant.
1983 — Publix had 165 bakeries. 152 of these were in-store, while 13 were free-standing bakeries adjacent to the Publix store. With every new store built, an in-store bakery was included.
1993 — Publix transitioned from “Danish Bakery” to “Publix Bakery.”
2004 — Publix opened a second Bakery plant in Atlanta.
Now that you’ve seen a few highlights of our Bakery’s history, take a look at how our bakery logo has changed over the years.
Do you have fun memories of the Publix Bakery, or a favorite item? We’d love to hear about them. Share with us in the comments.
I was an employee at the Publix Danish Bakery located in North Miami Florida back in 1974-1976. The store Manager’s name was Mr Bell ( which I believe his first name was Dennis ). I recall how concerned they always were about the quality of their baked goods. The fresh baked doughnuts and fruit danish were my favorites! Great memories!!!
Thanks for sharing this memory with us!
One of my most favorite memories as child/teenager was going to the bakery with my uncle. He would get the brownies and I remember they had sugar on the bottom. They were the most delicious, chewy gooey, chocolatey brownies I ever had. Really wish I had one every now & then.
What a sweet memory, Rebecca! Thanks for sharing.
I worked for Publix in 1981 for a couple of years.
I worked in the Danish Bakery in Hallandale Beach, Florida. It was a free-standing bakery adjacent to the store. The store manager’s name was Cecil (can’t remember his last name)
That was a very busy location. Sometimes we would have customers waiting at the door with we opened in the morning and the line would go all day long without a break!
Good memories!!
Hi Ellen, Thank you for sharing this with us! We love hearing these stories.
I grew up in Venice, Florida. The old “winged” Publix in Venice Shopping Center had the distinctive “arrow” sign out front (this style was shared by Lakeview SC in St Petersburg and others). Venice Shopping Center was (is) L-shaped. Publix occupies the middle of the main wing of the plaza which fronts Tamiami Trail. The old Danish Bakery at this location occupied a spot around the corner on the inside of the L. Between the grocery store and the bakery were a Beall’s and a Liggett Rexall Drug (not an Eckerd) as well as an (if I’m not mistaken) optician’s office. Also in the plaza was a Woolworth’s, Adams & Houser Hardware, a coin laundry, and a small jewelry store known as “Nick Nack Nook”. There was also, of course, an S&H Green Stamps store.
My grandparents moved to Venice in 1966 and the plaza was there at that time (my parents, brother, and I followed a couple of years later). I believe that it was constructed in 1960 or 1961.
Great memories! BTW…I’d have to dig to find them. But I’m pretty sure that I have photos of the Jacaranda Plaza Publix store which was badly damaged by the tornado in 1985.
Hi James. Thank you for taking the time to read our blog. It’s great to hear about your memories of our store.
The thing I remember the most wasn’t all the delicious decadence , but the smells , oh those delicious smells. they were so strong and full of flavor you could taste the flavors with out eating anything . I think I know what Ratatouille must have felt like. Thanks for the memories from 1969.
It’s hard to resist those Bakery smells! We appreciate you sharing your fond memory with us Doug!