Publix

[spenser1058]

It looks like Hank may get to keep on Krogering after all. Recent data indicate the chain is holding its own against the likes of Walmart and Amazon’s Whole Foods in several major markets.

Meanwhile, Kroger recently reentered the Central Florida area after an absence of over two decades with its Lucky’s Market banner. Will it knock Publix out of the #1 space locally? We’ll see.

https://amp.cincinnati.com/amp/3400697002

From the Cincinnati Enquirer 

Edited April 16, 2019 by spenser1058

[spenser1058]

For all our Publix shoppers, stock up now on jelly beans and Easter eggs because your local Publix will be CLOSED this Easter Sunday.

And no Easter ham would definitely not be a PLEASURE.

[spenser1058]

Wegman’s, the beloved New York State grocer currently sitting atop Consumer Reports’ Best Supermarkets list, gets closer to Florida in September with a new Raleigh, NC store.

It’s also the first time the chain will go head to head with Publix. We’ll see who wins this one soon.

https://www.supermarketnews.com/store-design-construction/wegmans-extends-its-reach

From Supermarket News

[spenser1058]

There once was a national chain store so powerful a congressman said it would destroy America. America’s still here but the chain died a slow death. 

Walmart? Nope. Amazon? Nope. Sears? Nope. It was the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as the A&P.

Despite all the hand-wringing, virtually no US company survives competition over the long haul.

https://newfoodeconomy.org/ap-food-retail-small-business-grocery-chain-store-ban/amp/?utm_source=New Food Economy

From New Food Economy

In case you were wondering, the last remaining original member of the Dow Jones average was GE, which was removed just a few years ago.

Edited April 23, 2019 by spenser1058

[AmIReal]

Our Grocery Stores, Ourselves

What stanning for Publix, H-E-B, and Wegmans says about Americans

"Fandom, no matter where it’s directed, is a little weird, a little more about the person experiencing it than the thing they’re obsessing about. So what does it say when people stan their local grocery stores?"

https://www.eater.com/2019/4/24/18511650/publix-heb-wegmans-trader-joes-grocery-stores-fandom-stanning

 

[spenser1058]

It’s of course, easy, and often expected these days, to appear cynical and care about nothing.

In my own case, I’d feel rather like an idiot if I went all fanboy over, say, Trader Joe’s, because there’s really nothing tying me to it (maybe Andy would have a special affinity for Two Buck Chuck - who knows?).

I also know that, while I like Target a lot and like the prices, the quick fulfillment, the clean stores and especially their values (a perfect score on the HRC index), I never get the warm fuzzies when I walk into one. I also know Minnesotans who feel very differently.

I was raised in a Winn-Dixie family. My mom’s first job was there, she met my dad there and, as a southerner, their stores had been around much of her life. Over the years, as it got worse and worse, she’d grumble after every trip for groceries but remained loyal her entire life.

When I first stepped into a Publix as a teenager, I was like “why aren’t we shopping here?” The store was cleaner, the aisles were wider, you could call the store if you needed to (Winn-Dixie refused to publish their number).

Central Florida has been a very transient place for much of my life - the people I knew who came from someplace else (most of them) acted like we had no history and nothing that was ours. Supposedly, there’s no local dialect (that’s wrong - listen to Buddy Dyer if you want to hear it - yep, I sound a lot like him).

Chicagoans had a collective meltdown when Macy’s pulled the Marshall Field name off the iconic State Street store. Sadly, by 1944, our major department store had been bought by Charlotte-based Ivey’s.

There were several Florida-based grocery stores but Publix not only was amazing (first automatic doors, first a/c, the iconic deco stores), it was also remarkably successful. Until 1990, it was also only for Floridians. Importantly, to this day, it hasn’t sold itself to some private equity fund. It’s still the same heirs of Mr. George running the show and the largest ESOP to boot.

There’s also the culture. The associates are friendlier but there’s also the Publix “feel”, created in the 1980’s by award-winning TV ads by a Florida-based ad company that I defy anyone but the hard core not to tear up at (since grocery shopping is still mostly done by women, that emotional tie is still something we jaded males scoff at even if inside we don’t want to). Just like a catechism, it made the tie between customer and company that much stronger.

If you think about it, most people visit their local Publix more each week than they go to Church. Think about that.

More has also remained consistent about it than any pro team that folks from up north go crazy about, where the players and coaches change constantly and they rarely have ties to the community.

If you think about it, in a capitalist nation, it stands to reason companies have closer ties to us than politicians who sell themselves to the highest bidder and spend most of their time somewhere else anyway.

For a very long time, Publix captured what Florida is all about almost perfectly. In fact, the schism many of us now have with it comes from the failure of its ingrown culture to evolve with us. Nevertheless, in the sense of familiarity, it’s still family.

There are certainly others - H*E*B, from what I’m told, perfectly captures what Texans new and old like to think about themselves.

Truthfully? I’m OK with that. In an era when a sense of place is harder and harder to come by, it’s great to have reminders, even if it’s mostly a mythology of how we imagine our little spot on the planet should be. 

Edited April 27, 2019 by spenser1058

[spenser1058]

A closer look at Tally’s GreenWise Market and a reminder Lakeland’s getting theirs before one’s even planned for us poor miscreants in Orlando:

https://www.theledger.com/news/20190427/publix-bringing-trendy-organic-specialty-grocery-store-greenwise-market-to-lakeland

From the Lakeland Ledger 

[spenser1058]

CVS is closing 46 stores (<1% of the fleet), including stores in Daytona and Ocala.

More interesting is that the remaining stores will be selling fewer retail items and offering more health services:

https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/3649440002

From USA Today

[HankStrong]

The waste in those stores has to be phenomenal.   How many people buy groceries at CVS?  Sure, in a pinch, but regular grocery shopping?

[spenser1058]

2 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

The waste in those stores has to be phenomenal.   How many people buy groceries at CVS?  Sure, in a pinch, but regular grocery shopping?

My guess is some brilliant soul got the idea they could charge convenience store prices on stuff like that and make a killing. Apparently, it hasn’t worked out.

[dcluley98]

Actually, CVS is changing their entire business model to be a fully-integrated healthcare company instead of just a local store with a pharmacy. 

This coincides with their acquisition of Aetna and their shift toward clinic and healthcare services provided in their locations, as opposed to retail store type items.  They are making a full shift away from standard retail/dollar store fare and will be focusing more on services and pharmacy/medical as an overall strategy. CVS knows they cannot likely compete with the discount stores, dollar stores, online retailers, and convenience as an overall strategy, so they are transforming the entire business model. 

Expect to see MinuteClinics in new and remaining stores offering Preventative Wellness and Outpatient Services to leverage existing relationships with the Pharmacy and Aetna and create synergy. Instead of offering low margin "products" they will be offering high margin "services" and will be consolidating that into highly localized already existing locations and future locations based upon demographic studies. 

[dcluley98]

Colonial Publix is undergoing a renovation. They put new freezer/refrigerator units in throughout the store with doors on them, redid the produce section entirely (good), and changed the deli a bit so now there is a sub line with a fountain drink station next to where the cheese is (awful - that aisle was way too crowded already and now people can't even get in the damn store without frustration due to people stacking up in it). 
The floor was ripped up and patch in spots with unfinished concrete where they ran probably CW lines for the new refrigerators. 

I can kind of appreciate them trying to make it a little bit nicer, but honestly, they should have just tried to add on a bit with an entirely new deli/bakery section instead of trying to fix an old store that already has space issues. Also, some of the items I regularly purchase were not there. I don't know if they have even less space now with the new freezers, so they are stocking less, or they just stopped carrying what I want. Probably gonna had on over to the Edgewater Publix next time to see if they have what I like to buy. 

[spenser1058]

21 minutes ago, dcluley98 said:

Colonial Publix is undergoing a renovation. They put new freezer/refrigerator units in throughout the store with doors on them, redid the produce section entirely (good), and changed the deli a bit so now there is a sub line with a fountain drink station next to where the cheese is (awful - that aisle was way too crowded already and now people can't even get in the damn store without frustration due to people stacking up in it). 
The floor was ripped up and patch in spots with unfinished concrete where they ran probably CW lines for the new refrigerators. 

I can kind of appreciate them trying to make it a little bit nicer, but honestly, they should have just tried to add on a bit with an entirely new deli/bakery section instead of trying to fix an old store that already has space issues. Also, some of the items I regularly purchase were not there. I don't know if they have even less space now with the new freezers, so they are stocking less, or they just stopped carrying what I want. Probably gonna had on over to the Edgewater Publix next time to see if they have what I like to buy. 

Thanks for that update. Going forward, my understanding with the existing Village format stores is to slowly but surely delete many of the packaged goods that are increasingly being purchased online in order to expand prepared foods over by the deli or maybe even a dedicated island in the middle.

Keep in mind this is the Jacksonville division, however, is usually the last to innovate, so look for a lot of one step forward, two steps back before it’s sorted. The good news is that the Homonialtown store (as Billy Manes liked to call it) can be the guinea pig for Eola.

Edited May 9, 2019 by spenser1058

[AndyPok1]

If the Southside Publix redo is any indication, during the renovation they have to lessen stock a bit.  I imagine your items will be back.

[spenser1058]

This article from Forbes which suggests Amazon will stop buying goods from thousands of its smaller vendors and redirecting them to their third-party Marketplace, seems to me just an acceleration of a process underway for a while.

The irony, of course, is that the marketplace seems to have come about in amazon’s early days in response to competition from eBay.

Perhaps I’m in a minority but it’s also a big reason I moved, in fits and starts, over to Target as my primary online source. 

I’m not totally free of the amazon juggernaut as I still subscribe to Kindle Unlimited and amazon’s selection (thanks in no small part to all those vendors) dwarfs anyone else’s on some things. Nevertheless, I no longer have Prime and I find Target’s curated selection (and private label brands) are closer to my preferences most of the time. On  staples, especially with my REDcard and cartwheel discounts, Target’s also usually cheaper.

Target’s clothing also doesn’t work for me (they seem to be designed for folks smaller than my 6’4” frame) but I usually just wait for the big annual sale at Nordstrom for Levi’s, New Balance and such (Nordy also has free shipping, something I refuse to pay for).

Given that amazon’s e-commerce sales growth has been moderating relative to Target and Walmart, I must not be the only one who’s rethinking his/her/their relationship with Jeff Bezos.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/warrenshoulberg/2019/05/29/its-official-amazon-is-no-longer-a-retailer/amp/

 

 

 

[aent]

On 5/29/2019 at 12:55 PM, spenser1058 said:

This article from Forbes which suggests Amazon will stop buying goods from thousands of its smaller vendors and redirecting them to their third-party Marketplace, seems to me just an acceleration of a process underway for a while.

The irony, of course, is that the marketplace seems to have come about in amazon’s early days in response to competition from eBay.

Perhaps I’m in a minority but it’s also a big reason I moved, in fits and starts, over to Target as my primary online source. 

I’m not totally free of the amazon juggernaut as I still subscribe to Kindle Unlimited and amazon’s selection (thanks in no small part to all those vendors) dwarfs anyone else’s on some things. Nevertheless, I no longer have Prime and I find Target’s curated selection (and private label brands) are closer to my preferences most of the time. On  staples, especially with my REDcard and cartwheel discounts, Target’s also usually cheaper.

Target’s clothing also doesn’t work for me (they seem to be designed for folks smaller than my 6’4” frame) but I usually just wait for the big annual sale at Nordstrom for Levi’s, New Balance and such (Nordy also has free shipping, something I refuse to pay for).

Given that amazon’s e-commerce sales growth has been moderating relative to Target and Walmart, I must not be the only one who’s rethinking his/her/their relationship with Jeff Bezos.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/warrenshoulberg/2019/05/29/its-official-amazon-is-no-longer-a-retailer/amp/

 

 

 

Yeah, they're completely misinterpreting the facts. Amazon is simply switching smaller vendors to more of the consignment model... Amazon will still inventory and fufill orders, just Amazon is refusing to pre-pay for the products, they want to pay for them when they sell them, and just hold onto it in their warehouses. 

As you said, its more of the same, consumers won't be able to tell the difference, just sucks for the small-midsize vendors they can't get paid upfront anymore (the real small vendors have been on this system for a while).

Amazon, just like the other retailers like Walmart and Target, generally adds little value, and if they aren't the lowest price or at least are providing something more direct (a cleaner store/faster checkout/faster delivery/reliable returns/etc), why pay more for your things? I think for the most part, there is little loyalty, and as Walmart and Target have been working to match or beat Amazon's price, they're losing their edge.

[spenser1058]

So I had to head over to the Publix on Shine to see all the folderol dcluley mentioned a few days back.

Things are definitely still askew but I do like the darker color scheme.

What’s truly scary, especially for a Publix, is the state of the floor after moving various shelves around. It looks like what you’d expect at JFW’s Winn-Dixie - definitely not a PLEASURE.

I’ll be intrigued to see how they get it back to Publix standard. It seems like the current floor is terrazzo and maybe they’re just going to do an overlay with the padded flooring used at Eola.

[spenser1058]

A MASSIVE COVER UP on the history of the beloved chicken tender Pub Sub?

Enquiring minds want to know!

https://www.tampabay.com/florida/2019/06/11/was-the-publix-chicken-tender-sub-invented-by-three-hungry-florida-men/?template=amp

From the St Pete Times 

[smileguy]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

A MASSIVE COVER UP on the history of the beloved chicken tender Pub Sub?

Enquiring minds want to know!

https://www.tampabay.com/florida/2019/06/11/was-the-publix-chicken-tender-sub-invented-by-three-hungry-florida-men/?template=amp

From the St Pete Times 

I have no doubts that the minds over at the St. Pete Times will get to the bottom of this so we can elevate the inventor to their rightful place in the Florida Hall of Fame!

[HankStrong]

I want some intimidating music to go with this news of scandal.

[spenser1058]

1 hour ago, HankStrong said:

I want some intimidating music to go with this news of scandal.

 

[spenser1058]

No matter where they came from (I lived briefly not far from Fleming Island, eeek! I might be a suspect),

ALL PUB SUBS ON SALE STARTING THURSDAY!

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/fl-bz-publix-sub-sale-20190611-c7cljdokrzgptbau3zxe5gtldy-story.html?outputType=amp

From the Sentinel 

[jgardnerucf]

Put your Shipt order's in now amateurs!

[spenser1058]

14 hours ago, jgardnerucf said:

Put your Shipt order's in now amateurs!

Isn't Publix Instacart?

[spenser1058]

This looks intriguing - a new Asian supermarket at Parkwood Plaza (W. Colonial at JYP):

https://www.scottjosephorlando.com/reviews/recent-reviews/45-asian/4787-lotte-plaza-market

From Scott J