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Couldn't vote because I am on East Coast and we don't have those stores.
What?
I am in New Jersey. I have a Wegman's. You do know it's a Rochester, New York, based store, right? While that's not exactly on the coast as we are, it's in YOUR state.
Besides, isn't Florida on the East Coast, too? That's where Publix is.
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I only remember Publix from going to Florida when my MIL lived there in the 80s. It was just a supermarket. The only thing I remember that was any different from the NJ supermarkets was that they carried your groceries out to your car for you, but that's probably because of the higher senior population.
Wegman's has specialty foods like (my favorite) the Mediterranean Bar and prepared soups and foods, as well as good grocery selections and excellent produce. What's more, it's not as expensive as Whole Foods, even though the selection and products are comparable.
My Wegman's is about 20 minutes away, so I don't go there all the time since I have an Acme right by the house. Acme is your run-of-the-mill supermarket, as I recall Publix being.
I'm a Wegmans shopper. It's only 10 mins drive from me, and have visited Publix whenever we visit my dad and his wife in WPB area down in FL and in laws at their Boca locations, so that's 2 different Publix stores.
As I recall Publix was definitely clean, bright, happy employees but the food was ok. Didn't have the Mediterranean Bar which DH loves. One of my sons is allergic to quite few things like wheat, all nuts, and certain shellfish. I'm gluten free due to some food sensitivity and Wegmans always have the GF brands well stocked, making it literally one stop store for me. I remember having a hard time looking for a certain GF item for my son down in Florida before giving up!
I'm a Wegmans shopper. It's only 10 mins drive from me, and have visited Publix whenever we visit my dad and his wife in WPB area down in FL and in laws at their Boca locations, so that's 2 different Publix stores.
As I recall Publix was definitely clean, bright, happy employees but the food was ok. Didn't have the Mediterranean Bar which DH loves. One of my sons is allergic to quite few things like wheat, all nuts, and certain shellfish. I'm gluten free due to some food sensitivity and Wegmans always have the GF brands well stocked, making it literally one stop store for me. I remember having a hard time looking for a certain GF item for my son down in Florida before giving up!
Wegmans wins with me.
My adult daughter is gf and vegan besides, and there's so much for her to buy at Wegman's. She doesn't have one near where she lives, so when she visits me we go there. She buys what she wants, and we get a platter from the Mediterranean bar and eat it watching Law and Order reruns.
Publix is over 80 miles south of us. Until Wegmans came to the Northern Virginia area, I probably couldn't vote for either. They are still more than 30 mins from our house. We might go there every once in a while.
Hubby likes their beer area.
I like Wegman's in general. It's familiar to me growing up in NY.
It's possible I may have stepped into a Publix at one time because we moved around a lot but as of this moment, I can't remember.
I like Publix, being in Miami and having them all around me of course is not an influence, lol.
One store I always like the best though was the chain called "Harris Teeter" that I went to when I lived in the DC area. I wish all stores were like that one.
My favorite store...
We have Wegmans here (Washington, DC suburbs) but I like Harris Teeter better.
I've been to Publix as I have spent some time in FL. Wegmans has them beat, IMO.
Publix only came into the FL panhandle and Alabama around ten years ago. This used to be hardcore Winn-Dixie territory, but Publix (and Walmart) has put a huge dent in their business. Nowadays, Winn-Dixie gets a lot of older customers, Walmart gets a lot of the poorer customers, and Publix gets the more affluent customers.
Once, my boss asked me to take a temporary assignment to Erie, PA for a few months. Several times a month, I headed up there for a week or two at a time. They had a Wegman's store. I must admit that I never ate out during those assignments. Most afternoons, I would stop for lunch at a small Italian deli near the plant and dinner at the Wegman's store. They had excellent prepared and deli foods. Since all my costs were reimbursed, I have to admit that I did not care that it was significantly higher than the supermarkets in Cleveland. My impression is that they do a very nice job but it would be expensive to do all of your shopping there.
I have been to Publix on a few occasions and I have never seen anything to be all that excited about. It is a nice supermarket but personally, I always thought that the old Ukrops and Harris-Teeter were a lot better.
Personally, I prefer Kroger's stores. In my local stores, I know all of the employees who have been there a while and I get some excellent service. However, it is frustrating. When I head home to Cincinnati, the store closest to my parents' house of one of the"show stores" where Kroger's tries out new ideas and it is a place where all the the corporate big-wigs are in and out of the store. The store is well staffed and has a lot of great foods yet has more reasonable prices than Wegman's. After a couple of weeks, I return to Arizona to my local Fry's stores. I see some of the same ideas as in Cincinnati. However, too often, they are poorly implemented and executed. They do NOT commit the necessary labor at the store level to operate a decently upscale supermarket. Furthermore, some of the marketing decisions are interesting. In a largely Hispanic and Native American area in Tucson, Fry's sells fresh pretzels and rye bread ... but you cannot buy a freshly made in-store tortilla.
I live in an area (NC) that has started seeing Publix in the last few years, and will be seeing Wegmans in the near future. I've also spent months at a time of the past two years living in Northern Virginia (due to caring for aging/ill parents) and do my shopping at Wegmans when I'm up there.
When I'm here in NC, I occasionally shop at Publix. But by and large, it's a standard grocery store like any other, perhaps with better customer service. (Yeah, I know ... the subs and cakes are apparently sent by the gods. But I'm gluten free, so that does me no good). I like Publix, but I still shop at Harris Teeter most of the time, probably because it's what I'm comfortable with. In other words, Publix hasn't wowed me enough to completely lure me out of my comfort zone.
Now when Wegmans finally opens nearby (which probably won't be for another 3 years or so), I may never step in another HT or Publix. LOL! It's really on another level from anything else we have around here.
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