Publix

[spenser1058]

I suppose I've been on a bit of a Target high lately because of some recent discoveries.

I've mentioned before that, although the regular Target store is fine, I've been less impressed by its  performance as a grocery store.

It's as though a dry goods merchant decided to sell food - everything except the produce is prepackaged and preprocessed (including the meat.) Sorry, but Publix runs circles around them. Publix associates also tend to be much friendlier, too. Target folks are there but they tend to be a bit aloof.

Nevertheless, I've been an online guy for over 20 years now (and ordered by mail before that from LLBean and Brooks Brothers.)

I've been such a Jeff Bezos acolyte that not only do I have a Kindle but I'm one of the few in America that had a Fire Phone.

Recently, though, Amazon has been playing some pricing games on things I order often and hence caught the silliness.

Of course, my politics are enough to steer me away from Walmart.com so I thought I'd give Target.com a whirl.

Now for free shipping it requires a $35 minimum which I grumbled about (I'm long-spoiled by Prime), but I soldiered on.

Imagine my surprise to discover most of my staple items are cheaper at Target.com than on Amazon.

Also, since you're buying from Target and they don't do the third-party eBay approach, it's much easier to navigate the website. Admittedly, Amazon has a much wider selection but on everyday items it hasn't presented a problem yet.

Remember I was missing Prime? It turns out they have something even better. If you link your checking account to a Target REDcard, you get an extra 5% off plus free shipping without the minimums (along with other perks.) Oh, and no fee for it unlike Prime. There's also a credit version.

I also really liked that the Daytons who founded Target are great Democrats (see MN guv Mark Dayton) and that the presentation of everything makes it apparent this is a company with 100 years of retailing knowhow and pizazz.

So, I'm smitten and glad I made the switch. Who knows? If that Target/Kroger rumor comes true, maybe I'll head back for another shot at fresh stuff. Hank and I could stroll the aisles singing, "Let's Go Krogering!"

Edited April 21, 2018 by spenser1058

[HankStrong]

Beyond the Target/Kroger rumor, there have been and apparently continue to be talks between Amazon and Target about some sort of merger.  Imagine getting Target with Prime?

Apparently, the idea of Targets becoming brick & mortar pick-up spots for your Amazon purchases figures heavily into it, should it ever become more than a whim.

[spenser1058]

A lady from up north waxes rhapsodic on her discovery of Publix:

https://amp.thekitchn.com/publix-shopping-tips-255879

From Kitchn

[IAmFloridaBorn]

The re-done Publix near my home in Williamsburg just opened up and it features a smoother layout and more departments. Welcomed addition. The New Publix's I've seen so far are pretty awesome.

[JFW657]

They demo'd and rebuilt the Publix at Lake Frederica about a year or so ago.

Pretty nice.

[spenser1058]

Publix at the Paramount should be getting its 10 year refresh this year and I was hoping we might see them shift to the more fresh/less packaged goods format. So far, not a peep, though.

[bqknight]

13 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Publix at the Paramount should be getting its 10 year refresh this year and I was hoping we might see them shift to the more fresh/less packaged goods format. So far, not a peep, though.

How would they refresh the store without closing it? Or do they temporarily close stores? 

[spenser1058]

Stores are refreshed every 5 years and the work is usually done overnight (for example, the Shine Ave store had a construction dumpster in the back part of the parking lot for several months while they got theirs.)

Of course, swapping out shelves with prepared food areas might be trickier but I think there are ways it could happen. Alternatively, if they're thinking of another Publix nearby (not impossible: think Dr. Phillips and Hollieanna/WPV), we might have to wait for the new one (NORA? The Sentinel?) and then close Paramount temporarily. Any new store downtown is practically guaranteed to be the new format like the one they did at USF.

[HankStrong]

They apparently do both.  My Publix stayed open during renovation.  The Publix by my in-laws house shut down for several weeks.

[WAJAS]

13 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Stores are refreshed every 5 years and the work is usually done overnight (for example, the Shine Ave store had a construction dumpster in the back part of the parking lot for several months while they got theirs.)

Of course, swapping out shelves with prepared food areas might be trickier but I think there are ways it could happen. Alternatively, if they're thinking of another Publix nearby (not impossible: think Dr. Phillips and Hollieanna/WPV), we might have to wait for the new one (NORA? The Sentinel?) and then close Paramount temporarily. Any new store downtown is practically guaranteed to be the new format like the one they did at USF.

I was once in the Sanford Walmart around 3am (long story) while it was under refurbishment.  They were just moving the shelves around the store as if it was normal.  I think with Publix not being 24hrs like Walmart they'd be able to do the same but faster.

Edited April 25, 2018 by WAJAS98

[aent]

One near my parents built a temporary "section" up front where the sale items typically were, and rotated the different departments there while they renovated each section. There were occasional one day department closures, and they needed to close the store for 1 day during the process as well for electrical changes, but all of the closures did not exceed 1 day at a time and were posted for about a week before they happened.

[spenser1058]

Things we REALLY need at Publix:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/amphtml/stephenlaconte/24-grocery-stores-that-are-straight-up-living-in-the-future

From Buzz Feed

[spenser1058]

Publix' financial results for the last quarter have been released and both revenues and profits are heading up. Profit increased 22% over last year.

Interestingly, the closely held firm's stock increased for the third quarter in a row even as that of competitors Kroger, Target and Walmart all declined slightly. Since Publix is the largest of our local Fortune 500-headquartered companies, that bodes well for the region's economic engine.

Publix registers record earnings; stock price up
http://bit.ly/2JLvJR0

From the Sentinel

[HankStrong]

Profits in Florida???? WHAT?

Fortune WHAT??

[spenser1058]

I really can't imagine hating a place that much and continuing to live there.

When  I was about to become a senior in high school, my dad transferred to Jacksonville and we ended up living in a wee bit of suburban hell called Orange Park. The timing of changing high schools in my last year of course made it worse. (I scurried back to Orlando as soon as I graduated.)

Nevertheless, as much as I hated it, I still found at least a few things  I liked. Our poster hasn't said one good thing about Orlando since he began his daily screeds. Oh well, haters gonna hate. Hopefully, all this venting is making him feel better. 

[I am Reality]

My daily screed...

Publix killed it on Forbes' Best Employers List.  It ranked #38 among "Large" companies nationwide.  Excellent. 

 

In the Orlando area, Sea World ranked #481 in the "Large" companies. 

Tupperware ranked #80 among "Medium" companies nationwide. 

Ruth's Chris Hospitality ranked #95 in "Medium." 

Wycliffe Bible Translators ranked #310 in "Medium."

 

[spenser1058]

The first cashierless Amazon GO store east of the Mississippi has been announced - Chicago gets the nod.

Still no word on heading in our direction.

While speaking of Amazon, Target is getting more aggressive on e-commerce by halving its next day delivery fee on some items to $2.99 (potentially even less with a REDcard.)

I recently switched to Target from Amazon for my go-to delivery retailer and continue to be pleasantly surprised.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/this-is-where-amazons-next-cashier-free-stores-will-be-located

From FOX Business

https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/15/targets-next-day-delivery-service-target-restock-launches-nationwide-with-lower-fees/amp/

From Tech Crunch

Edited May 15, 2018 by spenser1058

[spenser1058]

I found this fascinating but for perhaps a different reason than you might think.

After only 4 months, Walmart is discontinuing its cashierless checkout pilot, Scan and Go.

This is as Amazon is announcing additional locations of its cashierless Amazon GO convenience stores.

Now, we can all roll out the old tropes of Walmart being technophobic relative to Amazon but that really hasn't been true for a while, if it ever was.

Instead, the article from Business Insider suggests something more fundamental: that there's a difference between Walmart and Amazon customers and they have different ideas about the shopping experience, even as the whole nature of that experience is changing.

https://amp.businessinsider.com/walmart-abandons-scan-and-go-cashierless-checkout-2018-5

Not mentioned here but quite relevant is how other retailers approach technology. Target is rushing to keep up with Amazon on delivery while Publix continues to take a go-slow approach.

Maybe it's not always management incompetence (like Sears) but instead a correct response to one'S customers?

[bqknight]

2 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

I found this fascinating but for perhaps a different reason than you might think.

After only 4 months, Walmart is discontinuing its cashierless checkout pilot, Scan and Go.

This is as Amazon is announcing additional locations of its cashierless Amazon GO convenience stores.

Now, we can all roll out the old tropes of Walmart being technophobic relative to Amazon but that really hasn't been true for a while, if it ever was.

Instead, the article from Business Insider suggests something more fundamental: that there's a difference between Walmart and Amazon customers and they have different ideas about the shopping experience, even as the whole nature of that experience is changing.

https://amp.businessinsider.com/walmart-abandons-scan-and-go-cashierless-checkout-2018-5

Not mentioned here but quite relevant is how other retailers approach technology. Target is rushing to keep up with Amazon on delivery while Publix continues to take a go-slow approach.

Maybe it's not always management incompetence (like Sears) but instead a correct response to one'S customers?

I’d say so.

Walmart customers are fundamentally different than Target/Amazon customers. 

Publix may be a bit of both things at play. In Publix’s case, it may be a case of market research showing it’s not necessary right now. Why invest in something not necessary that may be outdated in a few years anyway? Publix’s strengths are not in its technology but I don’t think it has to be. I’d honestly be happy if they just did self checkout aisles. I don’t need anything else right now. 

[HankStrong]

The microcosms you see in shopping are amazing to me.  Often, if you look at how you shop it will reflect your personality and habits in a much broader fashion.  I do about 99% of the shopping in the family mainly because I'm good at knowing what we should be paying and shouldn't and my wife finds shopping (other than for jewelry and clothes) to be boring and tedious. 

As a quick sidebar, it is still amusing how checkout people generally seem stuck in 1950 in gender role shopping.  They wouldn't bat an eyelash at a female purchasing anything that only a man uses because she's buying that for her husband or son and generally speaking *for the family*, but you buy something only women use and it is amazing how often you hear quips like "Ah, she made you make THE trip, huh?" No.  I am purchasing that item for the exact same reason a wife might buy a beard trimmer or a jockstrap.  Someone in my family needs it and I am the shopper.

• I will shop at Target any day because I find the overall experience reflects my likes and I find it pleasant to shop there.  Although, I don't shop for many groceries there because their prices are higher. 
• I enjoy shopping at Publix for many reasons including pricing, but I'm also frustrated easily by their inefficiencies and how dated a lot of their processes are. 
• I hate shopping at Walmart and do everything in my power to avoid doing so, HOWEVER, they still get my money because 2-4 times a year I will go in and purchase simple things in large quantities because it is cheaper.  I know about what a 3-6 months supply of those things looks like.   I will walk about with an entire overflowing cart of personal care items and cleaning supplies.  Although I typically don't care for their groceries, I will often stock up on packaged or canned goods while I'm on one of these runs.  Only when I know for a fact the items will be the same as my Publix items but cheaper.
• I shop on Amazon all the time, but I know many items I *WANT* to buy from them are very poorly priced and Amazon doesn't care in the slightest about gouging me for simple things.

 

[JFW657]

On the subject of item scanning/cashier technology of the major grocery retailers and how it relates to the types of customers who tend to shop at each, and given the differences between what could be termed "the average Walmart shopper" and that of the average shopper at the other stores, I'm wondering if Walmart may have done away with the Scan and Go program because they found that too many people were only completing the Go part of the transaction while conveniently neglecting the Scan part.

IOW, did they find that they were giving away too much free merchandise?

[aent]

14 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

I found this fascinating but for perhaps a different reason than you might think.

After only 4 months, Walmart is discontinuing its cashierless checkout pilot, Scan and Go.

This is as Amazon is announcing additional locations of its cashierless Amazon GO convenience stores.

Now, we can all roll out the old tropes of Walmart being technophobic relative to Amazon but that really hasn't been true for a while, if it ever was.

Instead, the article from Business Insider suggests something more fundamental: that there's a difference between Walmart and Amazon customers and they have different ideas about the shopping experience, even as the whole nature of that experience is changing.

https://amp.businessinsider.com/walmart-abandons-scan-and-go-cashierless-checkout-2018-5

Not mentioned here but quite relevant is how other retailers approach technology. Target is rushing to keep up with Amazon on delivery while Publix continues to take a go-slow approach.

Maybe it's not always management incompetence (like Sears) but instead a correct response to one'S customers?

I'm really disappointed they're continuing the phone app, its literally the reason I've been going to walmart again, it makes the chaos totally bearable. I don't think they gave their app a fair launch... the signs were up for many weeks before launch, so employees told customers it wasn't a real thing, they even had signs up in stores that never got it. It had its launch woes but was a great app.

[HankStrong]

I went into a Walmart in Kissimmee a few months ago just to grab one item and found it odd that the self checkout section had 3 people and a manager in it watching people scan.  I think there were almost 10 scan stations, so technically they were still saving money on cashiers, but it seemed to reflect more of the GO part of the transaction you mentioned JFW.   They were watching very closely.

[aent]

12 hours ago, HankStrong said:

I went into a Walmart in Kissimmee a few months ago just to grab one item and found it odd that the self checkout section had 3 people and a manager in it watching people scan.  I think there were almost 10 scan stations, so technically they were still saving money on cashiers, but it seemed to reflect more of the GO part of the transaction you mentioned JFW.   They were watching very closely.

Technically, if people were using the other methods of scanning, those 3 employees were responsible for more then the 10 scan stations... since you could bring your own scan station there, or scan on your smartphone and have the same employees checking for that too (although I don't think scan n go is in kissimmee). The app/technology seems to be living on at Sams Club, so they aren't saving on the development of it by discontinuing it.

The common self checkout to employee ratio I've noticed at nearly any store seems to be 4 stations per employee, so its not exactly out of line.

Edited May 17, 2018 by aent

[spenser1058]

After the latest revelation this week about Publix' over-the-top contributions to gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam ("I'm proud to be a sellout to the NRA!") as outlined in the Tampa Bay Times and other Florida newspapers, I simply cannot ignore the fact any more that the Walton family, the Hobby Lobby clan and the Cathys at Chick Fil A look like wild eyed liberals compared to the Publix board and founding families.

http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/05/16/column-really-publix-adam-putnam-is-who-youre-backing-in-the-governors-race/

More than most, I try to overlook politics in my shopping decisions. I may not be thrilled with an LLBean  family and board member going all out for The Donald, but hey, my family's not pure, either (my brother is a fundamentalist, homophobic supporter of the far right.)

And, if you're a native Central Floridian like me, Publix has always been a part of your life. In a place like Orlando where change is constant, the mere fact Publix (much like QE II for Britons) has always been there, as constant as oak trees, is reassuring. Not to mention, it's one of the best run chains in America whose associates have an opportunity to participate in its success. That's  why, in marketing parlance, there's an "affinity" for the store that runs deep:

https://amp.pnj.com/amp/619993002

(From the Pensacola News-Journal)

It baffles a lot of northerners who move here (check out the exasperation in columns about Publix in alternative paper the Miami New Times for examples:

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/hey-florida-its-time-to-stop-blindly-adoring-publix-9003039 )

Nevertheless, what once was a country club Republican, relatively moderate stance toward state politics has gradually moved way to the far end of the spectrum. Whether it be some of the more questionable ALEC legislation, ignoring the tomato workers' plight right here at home (even Walmart helped there), the PrEP kerfuffle or steadfastly refusing to even complete the HRC Corporate Equality Index survey (virtually alone in that among the Fortune 500,) Publix has amply demonstrated it shares none of my values or that of most urban Floridians.

So, after 45+ years of not even considering another grocer, I'm a bit at sea.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've become quite enamored of Target delivery and have switched to them from Amazon for most delivery-friendly staples. Unfortunately, Target's not really there yet on fresh:

http://time.com/money/4452365/target-walmart-grocery-shopping/

From Time

More to come on my journey to teach an old dog (me) some new tricks. 

Edited May 20, 2018 by spenser1058