A month after opening another local grocery store on South Broad Street, Publix announced Friday it will add its eighth store in the Chattanooga area by 2023 with a new location in Ooltewah.
Publix officials said they have signed a lease for another supermarket to anchor the Enclave shopping center that will be built on 32 acres at the southeast corner of Ooltewah-Ringgold Road and East Brainerd Road. Chattanooga developer Bassam Issa said Publix will anchor the first phase of a retail complex that he hopes will eventually include about 150,000 square feet, plus nearby fast food restaurants, banks or medical offices.
“This is right in the middle of one of the fastest-growing parts of Hamilton County, and this project and the Food City center across the street are really only the two major commercial developments to serve many of the thousands of residents in this area,” Issa said. “This is near where I live, and I’ve tried to work with the residents in this area to be able to offer the services we want for this community.”
Issa said Publix will be a major draw for the area and should complement the Food City shopping center just across Ooltewah-Ringgold Road from the new Enclave.
Publix opened one of its first Chattanooga area supermarkets in Ooltewah in 2009 at Snow Hill and Mountain View and then bought the Snow Hill shopping center three years ago. Publix added a store in East Brainerd at the Village at Waterside shopping center in 2018 and continues to add stores in growing parts of the Chattanooga area.