The first store to open among the explosion of new merchants in the Dadeland Mall area is Publix Supermarkets, with its largest store south of St. Petersburg.
The Dadeland Publix, covering more than 60,000 square feet, is a new prototype design, featuring Spanish Mission-style architecture on the exterior, and a bright and spacious interior, with extra-wide aisles, 18 check-out counters, and an ergonomically designed arrangement of products.

A fresh sushi bar is staffed by several Sushi Chefs.

A full-service pharmacy, bakery, deli, floral department, and fresh fruit bar are among the regular amenities, although they are bigger than in any other store and provide full-time staff to prepare individual requests on the spot.

Exciting new features include:

* A wine cellar with a full-time wine steward on staff. This wine department is six times the size of any other Publix' wine display, and offers a variety of wines from around the world, including an extensive selection of port wines and champagnes. The wines are available in every price range and are grouped by the nation which produced them.

* A millennium display with more than 200 cases of champagne, a millennium countdown clock, and a wall mural depicting some of the greatest moments of the past century.

* A holiday planning center, open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the holiday season, with a full-time expert on staff to help customers plan menus and parties.

* A sushi bar, with a full-time sushi chef.

* An extensive gourmet coffee section, where customers can grind their own beans and create their own blends.

* A sit-down café and Custom Sub Shop in the deli department.

* An extensive health food section.

* A variety of ethnic and specialty foods, including African American, Chinese, Jamaican, Kosher, Mexican, Spanish, and many others.

* An entire aisle devoted to greeting cards and party supplies.

* A large baby section, and many other special aisles, from pet food to pool care.

The most unique feature about the new store, however, is the way its products are arranged. The grocery trade professionals call this innovative new approach "in-line merchandising," which means that related products will be located in the same aisle. Other stores provide this to a limited extent, by placing chips and dips together, but the Dadeland Publix has made it a science.

For example, the pasta aisle not only offers dried pastas and sauces, there is also a special refrigerator case with

refrigerated pastas and sauces, along with pre-prepared items that are "heat and eat."

In the bottled water aisle customers will find chilled varieties along with room-temperature cases.

The pet food aisle not only provides sustenance for all types of animals from dogs and cats to birds and fish, but also their shampoos, bedding products, toys, etc.

In the baking aisle, along with the boxed mixes and homemade ingredients, customers will find another refrigerator case filled with ready-made desserts.

"People in this community have been waiting a long time for a store like this," said Carmen Millares, director of Community Relations for Publix Supermarkets Inc.

"Our staff conducted extensive research to see what residents of this community wanted in their new Publix, and we are very excited to be able to provide a store of this quality to our neighbors."