Florence Is Collecting Northern Kentucky's First Stores, and This Fall They All Arrived at Once

Between August 25 and October 15, 2026, Florence is adding the first Northern Kentucky locations of three national retailers: IKEA, Total Wine & More and Floor & Decor. A new Publix opened on US 42 in the same stretch. In spring, the city's own project report had them spread across spring, summer and fall. Then the earlier timelines slipped, and the openings piled up. For anyone who lives here, a decade's worth of changes to the weekly errand route is happening in a single season.

The spring report and what actually happened

In May, LINK nky covered the City of Florence's first-quarter 2026 economic development report. It listed Publix, Total Wine, IKEA and Floor & Decor among the city's largest active commercial projects. Here is how the report's expected dates line up with what happened.

Floor & Decor is the only one that kept to its original season. The other three ran one to two seasons late, and that delay is why they all landed together. The city report describes IKEA, Floor & Decor and Total Wine as the first Northern Kentucky location for each brand. Before this fall, Florence residents had to leave the region to shop at any of them.

The Mall Road pair works differently from a typical big box

The first Northern Kentucky IKEA is a smaller format than most people picture when they hear the name. The IKEA Florence Plan and Order Point is a showroom and design-consultation space. You can browse, book a planning appointment, place an order, arrange delivery and pick up preordered purchases, with pickup available as soon as the next day. It covers about 4,200 square feet, according to LINK nky's opening coverage. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, and parking is free. The address depends on the source. Earlier coverage and the city report said 7735 Mall Road, but IKEA's own store page now lists 7739 Mall Rd. Use the store page when you plug it into your phone.

Total Wine & More is a few addresses down at 7646 Mall Road. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported a September 24 grand opening for what the paper counted as the chain's fifth Kentucky store. Hoodline described a 15,000-square-foot store in a former Party City unit. It carries more than 8,000 wines, 4,500 spirits and 2,500 beers, plus a humidor, tasting and classroom events, and THC beverages. The Total Wine Florence store page lists these hours:

• Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
• Sunday, 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Total Wine's store page places it in the Village at the Mall Shopping Center. The city report uses nearly the same name, "Villages of the Mall," for the center where it expects a future Dutch Bros. Hoodline used a different center name, so a general "Mall Road, across from Florence Mall" is the safest way to give directions for now.

Neither Mall Road store is a typical walk-the-aisles big box. One is built around appointments and next-day pickup. The other is a specialty store with scheduled tastings and classes. Each gives you a reason to make a trip of its own instead of folding it into a grocery run.

Thursday on Spiral Drive puts home projects close to home

Floor & Decor takes over the former JoAnn Fabrics space at 87 Spiral Drive. In its October 8 announcement, the company describes it as a warehouse store and design center. It carries in-stock tile, wood, laminate, vinyl and natural stone, along with wall tile, decorative accessories and installation materials. Gena Schobinger leads the store, and it opens with about 38 associates.

Here is the grand-opening schedule for Thursday, October 15:

1. 10 a.m. Ribbon cutting with the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.
2. 5 to 8 p.m. PRO Grand Opening Event for contractors, installers, designers and other trade professionals. Prizes include a Chevy Colorado truck, an iPad and an Apple Watch.

Regular hours will be 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Put this next to the IKEA opening and a pattern shows up. Two of the three first-in-Northern-Kentucky stores are about planning and finishing a house. Furniture design consults on Mall Road and hard-surface flooring on Spiral Drive are both now inside Florence. If a kitchen refresh or a basement floor is on your fall list, the planning stage of the project no longer requires leaving town.

US 42 got the opposite kind of opening

Publix is the odd one out, and that's what makes it worth a closer look. The Mall Road and Spiral Drive stores are firsts for the region. The Publix at Farmview Commons, 8740 US 42, is the grocer's 10th store in Kentucky. In Northern Kentucky, it follows locations in Walton and Cold Spring, and stores in Union and Independence are under construction. The Florence store opened at 7 a.m. on October 7 with 58,817 square feet. Publix Liquors next door opened at 9 a.m. the same day. Earlier plans called for about 55,000 square feet, so the finished store came in a little bigger than the spring report described.

Florence is one stop in a grocery network spreading across Boone and Kenton counties, which is a different role from the Mall Road stores. If you live in Union, the Union store under construction may eventually be the closer Publix. That store sits near the corridor we covered in our look at Union Promenade's year.

Farmview Commons is also still filling in. The city report listed a 4,250-square-foot Bank of America at 8748 US 42, the first outlot in the Publix development, with completion expected in fall 2026. It also listed a 6,622-square-foot multi-tenant building at 8744 US 42, in front of Publix, with tenants not yet announced. Who signs for that building will shape this end of US 42 just as much as the grocery store does.

The next wave is on the same timeline that just slipped

These projects are still in the pipeline. In each case, the latest status we found is the city's Q1 2026 report or earlier coverage. Given how the spring and summer projects played out, treat every expected season below loosely.

• Dutch Bros Coffee, 7606 Mall Road. A 990-square-foot drive-thru outlot at the Villages of the Mall. It was in Concept Development Plan review as of Q1 2026.
• Jaggers, 4999 Houston Road. A fast-casual burger concept developed by Texas Roadhouse. It was in Major Site Plan review as of Q1 2026, with no opening date.
• Mi Cozumel, 7484 Turfway Road. The report expected a spring 2026 opening. FOX19 reported in January that construction was underway with no date set, and we found no confirmation that it has opened.
• Wawa, 8450 US 42 at Hopeful Church Road. It has been approved, but the construction timeline was still "to be announced" as of Q1 2026. According to LINK nky's 2025 reporting, the plan would replace a Blue Pantry convenience store, a Shell gas station, Snappy Tomato Pizza and Lita's Tacos. Lita's Tacos already opened a new Houston Road location in the first quarter of 2026.

One more from the coffee list has opened. Florence's second 7 Brew, at 7303 Turfway Road, now shows as operating on the company's location page, though we didn't find an exact opening date.

The rest of the fall calendar is unchanged. Florence's leaf pickup runs October 19 through December 17, and leaves need to be at the curb by 7 a.m. on your neighborhood's scheduled day. Y'alloween Fest is on the city's 2026 calendar for October 27, and the city notes that event details can change.

If the new IKEA design point or Floor & Decor has you sketching a kitchen, flooring or basement project, ask how that work might show up in your home's value before you commit to finishes. Nicole Elliott follows the Florence market up close and can tell you which updates tend to matter when it's time to sell. Start with a custom home valuation, or schedule a free consultation to talk through your plans.