Publix Super Markets has signed a lease for a 20,000-square-foot store in Oak Island, according to an announcement Tuesday.

Publix at Oak Island Market Place will be at the southeast corner of East Oak Island Drive and SE 50th Street, with a target opening of summer 2020, said a news release from Kim Reynolds, media and community relations manager for Publix.
 
The store will employ about 130 associates, Reynolds said.

The first Publix in the Wilmington area opened on Bragg Drive off South College Road in Wilmington during the summer of 2016.

Since then, Publix locations have opened in Ogden Market Place and in Ocean Isle Beach Market Place. A Publix is also under construction in Carolina Beach.

The Publix in Oak Island, Ogden and near Ocean Isle are in centers developed by Halpern Enterprises, while the developer for the locations on Bragg Drive was GHK Cape Fear Development, which is also developing the Carolina Beach store.

Started in 1930 and based in Florida, Publix is the largest employee-owned grocery store chain in the U.S. according to the company's website.