Publix
Publix is a
United States supermarket chain based in
Lakeland,
Florida. Founded in
1930 by
George W. Jenkins, its slogan is "Where Shopping is a Pleasure."
Publix has operations in five states:
Florida,
Georgia,
South Carolina,
Tennessee, and
Alabama. It employs over 136,000 people at its 883
retail locations, corporate offices, eight grocery
distribution centers, and nine Publix
brand manufacturing facilities which produce its
dairy,
deli,
bakery, and other food products.
Publix Super Markets Inc. is an
employee-owned, privately-held corporation. The National Center for Employee Ownership lists Publix as the largest company in the United States with at least 50% employee-ownership. Publix's
2005 sales totaled US$20.6 billion. It was ranked #104 on
Fortune magazine's
Fortune 500 list of U.S. companies in
2006.
As of 2006, Publix has been listed by
Fortune magazine as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" for nine straight years. It is also listed by
Fortune as one of "America's Most Admired Companies." Publix has also won various local, regional, and national industry and philanthropic awards, including the highest rank for customer satisfaction among supermarkets from the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
[Publix named top supermarket for customer satisfaction]Publix's main
competitors are
Albertsons,
Food Lion,
Kroger,
Sweetbay (formerly
Kash n' Karry),
Wal-Mart, and
Winn-Dixie.
Included in each store is a
deli,
bakery,
produce,
floral,
meats and
seafood department, with some stores having a
cafe,
sushi,
pharmacy, in store
photo-lab, and
liquor stores.
In addition, there is a service provided where a special order can be requested, where non-regularly stocked or rare items as well as carrying previously hard-to-find food items can then be ordered, including some that are normally only found at
health food stores, including
organic meats,
fruits, and
vegetables; In addition,
vegetarian and
vegan products;
hypoallergenic foods; and other specialty food items can be ordered.
Publix Greenwise Markets is a concept the company is trying in response to the increase in the number and
profitability of health food stores and increasing awareness of
nutrition, and will focus on natural and organic items, similar to a
Whole Foods Market. This is an
expansion of a concept that already has been running for several years, as most stores already have a Greenwise section. The first two stores will be in
Miami and
West Palm Beach. It should also be noted that the Whole Foods Market has been in the health food
business since
1980.
George W. Jenkins opened the first Publix market in
Winter Haven, Florida, in 1930. In
1934 his single store managed US$120,000 in sales. The next year, in
1935, he opened a second location, the Economy Food Store in Winter Haven. Despite the
Great Depression, his stores actually managed to attain financial success.
In
1940, Jenkins (affectionately called 'Mr. George' by his employees) mortgaged an orange grove to build Florida's first
supermarket. His "food palace" had, among other things, piped-in music, air conditioning, cold cases for frozen and refrigerated items, in-store donut and flower shops and electric-eye automatic doors. The supermarket became very popular among shoppers, but
World War II materials shortages prevented him from building more for a few years. In
1945 Jenkins purchased the 19-store All American food stores chain and converted them into Publix Super Markets.
|
Standalone Publix in Pompano Beach. The image demonstrates the typical architectural style of 21st century stores. |
In
1951, Publix moved its headquarters to Lakeland, Florida, and built its first distribution warehouse there. At the same time, it began to close the old All American stores and replace them with brand-new stores. Publix crossed US$50 million in sales and US$1 million in profit for the first time in
1956. In
1957, the donut shop in each store was expanded into a full-service bakery.
By
1959, Publix was the dominant supermarket chain in central Florida, and began expansion to southeast Florida. The company built a distribution center in
Miami, Florida in
1963, and also started providing deli services at that time. In
1970, sales crossed US$500 million, and reached US$1 billion in
1974. This was the same year that stores began to open in
Jacksonville, Florida.
In
1980, Publix became the first large grocery chain to utilize
Universal Product Code scanning in all its stores. In
1982, the
Presto! ATM network was launched, and the company soon installed ATMs in every Publix Super Market. Sales crossed US$5 billion in
1989. The first store outside of Florida opened in
Savannah, Georgia in
1991, and distribution and manufacturing facilities in
Lawrenceville, Georgia followed soon after. Stores were soon opened in South Carolina (
1993), Alabama (
1996) and Tennessee (
2002) as well. Publix also currently operates six "Pix"
gasoline-convenience stores.
By the end of
2006 Publix will have completed the implementation of its new POS terminals, replacing the current generation of IBM POS terminals. The new system called PRICE (Publix Retail Improvement Checkout Experience) combines a PC POS with touch-screen and laser printing. A separate LCD screen for customers lists the last few scanned items, and will eventually feature recipe ideas and Publix advertising.
Publix's first in-store pharmacy was opened in
1986 in
Altamonte Springs, Florida. In
1995, one-third of the stores had a pharmacy, a percentage now standing at 77%.
On
April 21, 2005, Publix opened its first
Hispanic-themed supermarket,
Publix Sabor, in
Kissimmee, Florida. The 40,000-ft² store, renovated from a pre-existing Publix Super Market, almost exclusively features
Hispanic ethnic products, and has a cafe in the Deli/Bakery area that serves Hispanic food. A second store was opened shortly after in
Hialeah, Florida. Publix recently announced that they would be opening two more Sabor stores in the Miami area, one would be a remodeled store in the Flagler Park area and the location of the other is still to be determined.
On
January 9, 2006, Publix announced that it would open a
Carrabba's Italian Market at the University Walk store in
Sarasota, Florida that
summer, in conjunction with
Carrabba's Italian Grill.
[Carrabba's Italian Market to Open in Sarasota Publix]Publix also tried to enter the
on-line grocery business with PublixDirect, in hopes of serving the southeastern United States. PublixDirect's website launched
September 24,
2001. Unfortunately the attempt was during the
dot-com crash with competitor
Webvan's well-publicized fall from grace. Publix found that demand for online grocery shopping in the Miami area was not as great as the company had expected, and shut down PublixDirect on
August 23,
2003.
On
October 4, 2005, Publix sued
Visa and
MasterCard for unfair business practices over their unannounced and non-negotiable raises in
merchant account fees.
[Publix Announces Suit Against Visa and MasterCard] Visa lost a similar lawsuit filed by
Wal-Mart in 2004.
In 1997 a settlement was reached in a class action lawsuit concerning gender discrimination. Publix paid $81.5 million in damages to its female employees and made policy changes in its workplaces as a result.
[EOC, Publix settle gender discrimination suit]Publix currently has 883 supermarkets in the following states:
* Florida - 642
* Georgia - 164
* South Carolina - 37
* Alabama - 27
* Tennessee - 13
Distribution Centers are located in:
Florida:
*
Boynton Beach*
Miami*
Deerfield*
Orlando*
Jacksonville*
Sarasota*
LakelandGeorgia:
*
LawrencevilleManufacturing Facilities are located in:
*
Atlanta, Georgia - Bakery Plant
* Deerfield Beach - Dairy Plant, Fresh Foods
* Jacksonville - Fresh Foods
* Lakeland - Bakery Plant, Dairy Plant, Deli Kitchen, Fresh Foods, and Printing Services
* Lawrenceville - Dairy Plant
*
Official website*
Publix Photographic Timeline*
Publix History
