The wife and I drove by the Muscle Shoals location where they are building Publix and saw some workers there and ask about Steak & Shake rumors. One fellow definitely denied that Steak & Shake was coming in and that the rumor was just that, a rumor. He said that there was no way that Steak & Shake was going in there.
Now I personally believe that there still is a chance but only if someone has invested a huge amount in a franchise location because I too believe that there is no way that Steak & Shake corporation would choose the Shoals area for a corporate location. As for the worker's dogmatic statement that there was no way that a Steak & Shake would be coming there it's also very possible that he's been ask that question far too many times and he's just come up with a standard response to blow off those that continually ask him.
I still believe that there might be a partial chance that someone will take a gamble on a franchise and that the out parcel in the Northeast corner of the parking lot may be where one will be built. I do know it's large enough to support a store of that nature so time will tell who is right I suppose. I still keep going back to what the Decatur Steak & Shake said but he too indicated that he wouldn't know for sure until they, corporate, ask him to establish some kind of training for new employees or a new location.