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," in addition to "It's Been Our Pleasure," during the chain's recent seventy-fifth anniversary celebration.
Publix has operations in five states:
Florida ,
Georgia ,
South Carolina ,
Tennessee , and
Alabama . It employs over 136,000 people at its 879 retail locations, corporate offices, eight grocery distribution centers, and nine Publix brand manufacturing facilities which produce its dairy, deli, bakery, and fresh 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 #117 on
''Fortune'' magazine's
Fortune 500 list of U.S. companies in
2005 . 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's main competitors are
Albertsons ,
Food Lion ,
Kroger ,
Sweetbay (formerly Kash 'n Karry),
Wal-Mart , and
Winn-Dixie .
Publix distinguishes itself from other supermarkets by offering higher quality products and services. Perhaps the best-known service that Publix offers to all of its customers free of charge is its carry-out policy, where Publix service clerks will take their shoppers'
Shopping Cart to their car. Publix teaches their associates the "2 & 2" rule: following an order at checkout, two hands must be placed on the cart and two steps taken in the direction of door. Publix is adamant about its free takeout service and customers are encouraged to take advantage of it, regardless of their ability.
Publix, believing that such a service is something that customers should expect from a grocery store, maintains a no
Tip ping policy, in which it asks customers not to tip associates for providing services.
Publix departments include deli, bakery, produce, floral, meats, and seafood; and at some locations a cafe,
Sushi ,
Pharmacy , in store photo-lab, and liquor stores. Publix will special order non-regularly stocked or rare items as well as carrying previously hard-to-find food items that could only be purchased at
Health Food stores, including
Organic Meat s,
Fruit s, and
Vegetable s;
Vegetarian and
Vegan products;
Hypoallergenic foods; and other specialty food items. Publix has plans to launch Publix Greenwise Markets, which will focus on natural and organic items, similar to a Whole Foods. The first two stores will be in Miami and West Palm Beach.
, circa 1940.]]
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 were surprisingly successful.
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 was a smash hit, but
World War II materials shortages prevented him from building more for a few years. In
1945 he purchased the 19-store All American food stores chain and converted them into Publix Super Markets.
. 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. They built a distribution center in
Miami, Florida in
1963 . They 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 anywhere to utilize
Universal Product Code scanning in all its stores. In
1982 , the ''
Presto! '' ATM network was launched, and quickly there was an ATM installed 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 operates several "Pix"
Gasoline -convenience stores.
.]]
Publix Pharmacies are ranked number one in customer satisfaction in supermarket
Pharmacies , three years in a row (2003-2006). Publix's first in-store pharmacy was opened in
1986 in
Altamonte Springs, Florida . In
1995 , 33% of stores had a pharmacy, and currently 77% of Publix Super Markets host a pharmacy to accommodate the demand for their acclaimed customer service. Publix pharmacies have a "face-to-face" policy; a Publix pharmacist, during working hours, is always available to answer any questions you have regarding your prescription or other health issues.
On
April 21 , 2005, Publix opened its first
Hispanic -themed supermarket, Publix Sabor, in
Kissimmee, Florida . The 40,000-ft&
2 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 .
Publix also tried to enter the
On-line grocery business with Publix Direct, in hopes of serving the southeastern United States. 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 was not as great as they had expected, and shut down Publix Direct on
August 23 ,
2003 .
Publix very rarely attracts controversy beyond the usual issues of a supermarket and a food manufacturer. However, on
October 4 , 2005, they sued
Visa and
MasterCard for unfair business practices over their unannounced and non-negotiable raises in interchange rates. 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.
