SARASOTA, FL - Publix has reportedly been going on a $86 million buying spree over the past year, bagging six shopping centers in Southwest Florida alone.

The retailer has become increasingly aggressive with its buying over the past 2 years, the Panama City News Herald says. And Publix won't stop there, earmarking $1.3 billion this year to buy more shopping centers, build new stores, and remodel existing stores.

“Publix has deep pockets, so they can really afford to do this,” said Stan Rutstein, a Commercial Specialist with Re/Max Alliance Group in Bradenton. “It protects their competitive position. It dramatically lowers their occupancy costs over time. It's an opportunity to lease out the smaller shop space and have some additional income from that.”

Last month, according to the Panama City News Herald, Publix paid $17.45 million for the shopping center it anchors at University Parkway and Market Street in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. In November, Publix also spent $26.3 million for the Lakewood Walk shopping center in the same area. 

Currently, Publix operates 1,098 stores, with roughly 20 percent of them in company-owned real estate, Spokesman Brian West said. "We're very fortunate to be in good financial health — no long-term debt and significant cash reserves, enough to allow us to invest in real estate when the situation makes sense." 

In the past few weeks alone, Publix has spent nearly $60 million on shopping centers where it has stores in Tampa, Fort Myers, and Miami.

Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Colliers International revealed in a report that Publix had purchased nearly half of the shopping centers it anchors that sold in the first nine months of 2014 in Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida.

“Because Publix has the first right of refusal on acquiring centers where they lease space, other investors interested in Publix-anchored centers have been frustrated with the acquisition process, given the possibility that even the top bidder could potentially be out-positioned by Publix,” the firm said.

There has also been an increasing trend of other investors being drawn to Publix-led shopping centers. The Panama City News Herald has reported that in February, an Ohio-based real estate investment trust paid $10.8 million for the Publix-anchored Twelve Oaks shopping center in Bradenton. Private investors also recently bought the retail portion of two Publix-anchored shopping centers for $11.3 and $26.7 million respectively.

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