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My opinion, HEB could EASILY shut anybody down. They are that good
While I agree with this sentiment, I think it would do poorly in Florida. They wouldn't be able to push "florida themed products" as well as they do the Texas ones. I have not lived in Texas for almost 10 years... I sure miss HEB. You also cannot underestimate the hatred from the Northeast of Texas and anything Texas themed. It was very shocking just how much our friends and family from Massachusetts hated even the mention of the state of Texas. I guess they are opposites afterall. I wonder if this sentiment among northern retirees has something to do with Buc-ee's sticking to the northern half of Florida currently.
Texas has more extreme weather than Florida. In the summertime, the temperatures will be above 100 and humid. In the winter, you could have freezing rain. In Texas, especially in Dallas / Ft Worth the toll roads are on steroids! You'll pay about $13 just to drive across town one time! You'd spend hundreds of dollars per month just on tolls. The toll roads are managed by a company in Europe, so they don't care how much it costs for the citizens in Texas. You'd have to probably be in Houston to avoid the cold weather in the wintertime, but it can get down to freezing in Houston, plus Houston has a huge problem with flooding, if you live in a low lying area. Austin is a beautiful area, but it's controlled by the leftists. We considered retiring in Texas, and researched different areas in Texas, and ruled out retiring in Texas.
In Florida, to avoid the cold weather in the wintertime, you need to be at or below the Tampa to Orlando line. Above that line, it can get cold. The weather in the Florida panhandle is more like Alabama and Georgia that the central and southern Florida. I've heard many stories about the high crime rates in Jacksonville. I'd seriously consider those stories. We considered retiring in the Orlando area, but rejected that idea because Orlando is one of the leftist area of Florida. The Miami area is another leftist area. You'd probably spend at least $300 a month on toll roads in the Orlando area.
We chose the Bradenton / Sarasota / Lakewood Ranch Suncoast area, which is south of the St Petersburg / Tampa Bay metro area. The Suncoast area of Florida is mostly conservative, and believes in law and order, except for some areas close to the coastline. We pay less than $10 a month in tolls, mainly on the Sunshine Sky Bridge that connects St Petersburg to the south.
We came from Minnesota, which is a blue state, and leftist controlled, but not as extreme as Washington state, in the Seattle area. However, we felt oppressed by the leftists, who control Minnesota, and there's probably much more leftist controlled oppression in Washington state. After living my whole lifetime in Minnesota, we moved to Florida one year ago, we are very happy that we moved to Florida. We still have extended family that live in Minnesota, and we feel the leftist oppression in Minnesota when we have occasionally visited Minnesota since we moved to Florida. The extended family want to move to Florida when they retire.
This past hurricane season was the third most active hurricane season, which runs from June till the end of November. The impact of hurricanes to our area of Florida has been minimal for many decades. There was a major hurricane that hit the Suncoast area, but that was 100 years ago. The threat of hurricanes exists during the hurricane season, but has very impact on your daily life. The Elsa hurricane was barely a category 1 hurricane in a tiny part of the storm. Elsa was coming up the gulf, just west of Florida's west coast. By the time the storm was directly west of our location, it weakened to a tropical storm. The maximum winds were 12 mph, which was nothing. We had about 2 to 3 inches of rain, which wasn't a concern at all. More hurricanes tend to hit the New Orleans area, and parts of the Florida panhandle.
We considered retiring in Hawaii, Southern California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida. We're happy with where we chose to retire in Florida. It would have been a huge mistake to retire in Southern California, where one of our extended family lives. If you're conservative, you have to keep those views to yourself in Southern California, or you will be cancelled.
I recommend that you take some scouting trips to places you are considering. Go to Florida in August and September to experience the hot and humid weather. Some people cannot tolerate the heat and humidity in Florida, and some people adapt better to the heat and humidity. But the worst of the heat and humidity only lasts about 2 to 3 months, and it is nice weather the rest of the year. For us, the heat and humidity in part of the summertime in Florida is much less annoying than putting up with the long, cold, icy, and snowy Minnesota winters. The weather is good in Minnesota only about 3 months a year, and part of that is hot and humid, or chocked full of large aggressive mosquitoes.
Wow, that comes as a surprise to me, considering that even here in WA we can open carry (although they were attempting for a while to make it illegal at rallies and protests). Thank you for the information!
I actually prefer the FL gun laws over TX. I WANT people trained in the proper and safe use of firearms & FL requires that training in order to get your CCL. If you are current/former law enforcement or military, you do not have to take the safety course to get your CCL. I also like the 3 day waiting period before you can purchase a firearm. I've carried and purchased firearms in both states, neither are really all that restrictive but I do prefer that folks have to prove they're understanding of gun safety and the state/federal laws surrounding gun ownership. JMHO
While I agree with this sentiment, I think it would do poorly in Florida. They wouldn't be able to push "florida themed products" as well as they do the Texas ones. I have not lived in Texas for almost 10 years... I sure miss HEB. You also cannot underestimate the hatred from the Northeast of Texas and anything Texas themed. It was very shocking just how much our friends and family from Massachusetts hated even the mention of the state of Texas. I guess they are opposites afterall. I wonder if this sentiment among northern retirees has something to do with Buc-ee's sticking to the northern half of Florida currently.
Yeah, I'm still shocked at the disrespect my hubby's New England family is toward TX and they've been very rude about it. His parents LOVED Texas as did a few other relatives that visited us over the years. The relatives that hate it have never even been to TX. They just hate on it because of what they "heard". I don't know if Floridians would welcome HEB or not but I suspect if given the opportunity to compare HEB to our Publix, they'd vote HEB because Publix is just that awful
Did anyone mention there is no income tax in Texas?
Property tax is high,when I first arrived in Houston,they said 1000 people come to Houston each week?and these are Mexicans and Central Americans ,being catholic,they will have a large family and someone has to pay for their schooling.
TX is not humid compared to Florida,if you want the beach and sand,then Galveston is for you,but in case of hurricane,you may have to drive north.
TX is becoming more of a tech center with so many companies setting up shops-Oracle,Tsla,Hewitt Packcard,Dell,even Uber is threatening to move to TX.
It is not true native TEXANS bragged about the biggest water melon,belt buckles,or oil fields,Houston being the oil capital of US,has a diverse population -Middle Easterners,Africans,Vietnamese,Mexicans,El Salvadorean,Ecuadorians,Brazilian.
Yes,there is flooding,big flooding,everything you see and hear of flooding in Houston is true,I think yo and hubby being techies and you are starting a family,go for Austin.
Austin is WAY too liberal. I'd stay away from there if I'm a conservative.
Great post! I'm from St. Louis and Publix doesn't impress me. I find the selection much better at the two main stores up there and better meats and produce too and stores in better shape.
The issue with Publix, the Fl stores is there is little competition so they don't have to throw in tons of money to have the best stores.
Could HEB give Publix, Wal-mart a run if they came to FL?
I personally think HEB could be exactly what FL needs to knock Publix down a peg or two. Walmart is a joke in my area. Publix doesn't have the variety that HEB does and they are expensive. I've never had the need to have a Sam's membership until I moved to FL. Chicken breast at Publix is almost $5 per pound but Sam's is 1.89 per pound. I bought skirt steak from Publix a few weeks ago because I was craving TX style fajita's, almost $20 per pound for SKIRT STEAK!! I checked the price of skirt steak at Sam's a few days later and it was a bit over $3 per pound. I miss HEB so much.
Here we go with the "Publix doesn't have competition" comments lol. I do remember you saying that you worked there, so your opinion may be based on other factors . On another thread, I advised that if people get the survey code on their Publix receipt to go and just look at the first question, even if they have no interest of filling it out. It asks where do you do most of your shopping. I got one and here is what they list.
Aldi
Bi-Lo
BJ's Wholesale
Costo
Dollar General
Family Dollar
Food Lion
Fresh Market
Giant
Greenwise Market (Publix)
Harris Teeter
Ingles
Kmart
Kroger
LIDL
Lowes Foods
Piggy Wiggly
Publix
Sam's Club
Save-A-Lot
Sedano's
Sprouts Farmers Market
Target/SuperTarget
Trader Joe's
Walmart Neighborhood Market
Walmart SuperCenter
Wegmans
Weis Markets
Whole Foods
Winn-Dixie
Other (Specify)
Floridians may claim Publix has no competition, but the folks in Lakeland think otherwise.
I'm surprised Amazon Fresh isn't on the list.
Quite a few of those stores aren't in Florida, but they are in the other 6 states where Publix operates. Aside from newer buildings, Publix is not much different if anything at all n the other 6 states than they are here. I haven't find an official reason why BOGOs are half-price on each item elsewhere and true buy one get one free here though there is speculation about price gouging laws.
And Walmart is in Texas. Is Florida Walmart inferior to Texas Walmart?
YES, FL Walmart's are far more inferior than TX Walmarts. That's a nice list of Publix competitors but the problem is that none of them that I've shopped carries everything I need, to include Publix. My TX based HEB was the only place I needed to go to for everything. No having to drive from store to store to get everything I needed. One of the HEB's in San Antonio is so big, they handed maps out at the door to better help shoppers navigate. Publix's way of stocking their shelves makes no sense either. You can't find tortillas in the bread isle even though tortillas are a bread product. You have to go to the "International" isle to find tortillas. That's just one example of how screwy their shelves are stocked. Makes no sense at all to me.
Texas has more extreme weather than Florida. In the summertime, the temperatures will be above 100 and humid. In the winter, you could have freezing rain. In Texas, especially in Dallas / Ft Worth the toll roads are on steroids! You'll pay about $13 just to drive across town one time! You'd spend hundreds of dollars per month just on tolls. The toll roads are managed by a company in Europe, so they don't care how much it costs for the citizens in Texas. You'd have to probably be in Houston to avoid the cold weather in the wintertime, but it can get down to freezing in Houston, plus Houston has a huge problem with flooding, if you live in a low lying area. Austin is a beautiful area, but it's controlled by the leftists. We considered retiring in Texas, and researched different areas in Texas, and ruled out retiring in Texas.
In Florida, to avoid the cold weather in the wintertime, you need to be at or below the Tampa to Orlando line. Above that line, it can get cold. The weather in the Florida panhandle is more like Alabama and Georgia that the central and southern Florida. I've heard many stories about the high crime rates in Jacksonville. I'd seriously consider those stories. We considered retiring in the Orlando area, but rejected that idea because Orlando is one of the leftist area of Florida. The Miami area is another leftist area. You'd probably spend at least $300 a month on toll roads in the Orlando area.
We chose the Bradenton / Sarasota / Lakewood Ranch Suncoast area, which is south of the St Petersburg / Tampa Bay metro area. The Suncoast area of Florida is mostly conservative, and believes in law and order, except for some areas close to the coastline. We pay less than $10 a month in tolls, mainly on the Sunshine Sky Bridge that connects St Petersburg to the south.
We came from Minnesota, which is a blue state, and leftist controlled, but not as extreme as Washington state, in the Seattle area. However, we felt oppressed by the leftists, who control Minnesota, and there's probably much more leftist controlled oppression in Washington state. After living my whole lifetime in Minnesota, we moved to Florida one year ago, we are very happy that we moved to Florida. We still have extended family that live in Minnesota, and we feel the leftist oppression in Minnesota when we have occasionally visited Minnesota since we moved to Florida. The extended family want to move to Florida when they retire.
This past hurricane season was the third most active hurricane season, which runs from June till the end of November. The impact of hurricanes to our area of Florida has been minimal for many decades. There was a major hurricane that hit the Suncoast area, but that was 100 years ago. The threat of hurricanes exists during the hurricane season, but has very impact on your daily life. The Elsa hurricane was barely a category 1 hurricane in a tiny part of the storm. Elsa was coming up the gulf, just west of Florida's west coast. By the time the storm was directly west of our location, it weakened to a tropical storm. The maximum winds were 12 mph, which was nothing. We had about 2 to 3 inches of rain, which wasn't a concern at all. More hurricanes tend to hit the New Orleans area, and parts of the Florida panhandle.
We considered retiring in Hawaii, Southern California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida. We're happy with where we chose to retire in Florida. It would have been a huge mistake to retire in Southern California, where one of our extended family lives. If you're conservative, you have to keep those views to yourself in Southern California, or you will be cancelled.
I recommend that you take some scouting trips to places you are considering. Go to Florida in August and September to experience the hot and humid weather. Some people cannot tolerate the heat and humidity in Florida, and some people adapt better to the heat and humidity. But the worst of the heat and humidity only lasts about 2 to 3 months, and it is nice weather the rest of the year. For us, the heat and humidity in part of the summertime in Florida is much less annoying than putting up with the long, cold, icy, and snowy Minnesota winters. The weather is good in Minnesota only about 3 months a year, and part of that is hot and humid, or chocked full of large aggressive mosquitoes.
lol, ok, I lived in southern california and recently moved to FL from southern CA. Your views are just straight-up wrong. No one is "canceling" anyone if they're conservative. Orange county (squarely center in southern CA) has a huge republican conservative base. I lived in Irvine and it was not uncommon for Trump flags to be seen all over the place, including Newport Beach, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, and on and on and on. Consistently red areas in southern CA. No one's canceled, I think you've been watching too much Fox news. Also, please explain and provide examples of the oppression you've experienced from leftists... I could use a good laugh..
Btw, I'm am planning on registering to vote on 12/22. same day as my DVM appt and I do vote democrat. We're all secretly planning on moving here and turning FL blue. It's gonna happen.
I certainly hope the OP isn't going to base their move on a grocery store....
Some of you here really, really need to get over the Publix ranting... The Publix stores I shop have anything I could ever need and more. No other store in this area comes close.
As to the OP, I have never lived in Texas, only briefly visited, but did not like what I saw. I am thinking the only place in Texas I would like would be San Antonio. But I was born here in Florida and I absolutely LOVE it here and will never leave. Born in Tampa, I have lived in Sarasota, Bradenton, Dade City and Lakeland, currently in Lakeland and we plan to never ever leave this area. Home of Publix Grocery by the way.
lol, ok, I lived in southern california and recently moved to FL from southern CA. Your views are just straight-up wrong. No one is "canceling" anyone if they're conservative. Orange county (squarely center in southern CA) has a huge republican conservative base. I lived in Irvine and it was not uncommon for Trump flags to be seen all over the place, including Newport Beach, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, and on and on and on. Consistently red areas in southern CA. No one's canceled, I think you've been watching too much Fox news. Also, please explain and provide examples of the oppression you've experienced from leftists... I could use a good laugh..
Btw, I'm am planning on registering to vote on 12/22. same day as my DVM appt and I do vote democrat. We're all secretly planning on moving here and turning FL blue. It's gonna happen.
That's what I don't get. You can go all over the country, even New York and see Republican stuff all over yet Biden still won. MI has Trump stuff all over yet he still lost that state and you see hardly any Biden stuff.
Same with Florida. Hardly any Biden stuff yet Trump barely wins both elections here in Florida.
My county for example was about 64 percent Trump last election. Not a HUGE blowout like North FL or somewhere in Idaho for example. Still a decent size minority Democrat vote. Yet I very rarely run into anyone that likes Biden despite about 35 percent voting for Biden. Must be some fraud going on.
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