[Carolina Knight]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Greenwise has been pretty stagnant for Publix actually and a bit of a smokescreen as "Greenwise" products often aren't as "green" as the competition's, which has probably led to the exodus of those truly into those products to places like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Earth Fare or Lucky's and would perhaps explain their expansion into GA and the Carolinas if the traditional grocery segment had flatlined in terms of profit here in FL. Furthermore if Publix were in fact competitive with their Greenwise format stores we would have seen further expansion beyond the few that have been open for a good 8-10 years now, along with increased availability of those products in their regular stores. I have long argued that their separation of Greenwise products from regular production products handicaps the growth of the Greenwise label.

The specialty organic grocery retailing segment is very tight with Earth Fare, Sprouts Farmers Market, and Whole Foods Market. Whole Foods Market had financial struggles two years ago and is presently closing nine stores. I can see one specialty organic grocer on the decline from increased competition.

[Carolina Knight]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

We don't know how Publix is doing since they're not publicly traded and as already mentioned expansion is something many companies who see market-share dwindling do in order to drive revenue/profits. The elimination of quarterly bonuses also isn't the sign of a thriving company, nor is the sudden desire to "go public".

Not all successful companies offer optional quarterly bonuses.

Publix's expansion plans are likely different from what you may be observing.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Carolina Knight

The specialty organic grocery retailing segment is very tight with Earth Fare, Sprouts Farmers Market, and Whole Foods Market. Whole Foods Market had financial struggles two years ago and is presently closing nine stores. I can see one specialty organic grocer on the decline from increased competition.

Every grocer closes under-performing stores and the fact they're opening their 365 format stores is a pretty good signal they're stable and diversifying. The organic segment isn't that crowded as Earth Fare, Sprouts and other aren't head to head with WFM in most markets and have based their success largely on under served mid-major cities, and even smaller cities with favorable demographics.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Carolina Knight

Not all successful companies offer optional quarterly bonuses.

Publix did before, what changed???

[PDF]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Publix did before, what changed???

Exactly. It was never optional. I got 4 inventory bonuses a year when I worked at Publix. From what I'm hearing, they've been taking on debt to open up new stores and that's something they've never done before. Sales and profits have been going up, but the stock has been down for the last 3 quarters...after going up for years and years. A lot of high-level people also left the company recently at the same time.

I think you are going to see Publix soon losing a lot of the things that made them stand out from the competition. And as you mentioned, many chains are beginning to make their presence known in Florida. Apparently the direction the company is taking is not one that a lot of people high up in the company are happy with. You can point to the opening new stores in new markets as a good thing, but there's much more to it than that.

Businesses that started out as family-run don't just suddenly decide to go public. If they do, it's not because they wanted to. I sold all my Publix stock when I left, and I had quite a bit. I'm not saying this to speak negatively of Publix, but just speaking objectively as to where they are at right now as a company.

[DanielAvery]

Going public was probably the biggest mistake The Fresh Market ever made. Issuing stock means having all your financials broadcast for the world to see (and criticize), but more devastatingly it means everything (workplace morale, bonuses, salaries) takes second place to making the shareholders happy. I'd hate to see Publix do to its employees what happens in so many companies who cow-tow to their stingy stockholders.

Fresh Market agreed to be bought out by a venture capitalist firm last year in order to get out of the stock market, but they seem to have exchanged one harsh master for another...and their expansion path has virtually gone into neutral. Like Publix, Fresh Market cancelled certain department head bonuses without explanation, and even sought to cancel Christmas bonuses for all employees but had to relent in the face of social media backlash.

[Carolina Knight]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Every grocer closes under-performing stores and the fact they're opening their 365 format stores is a pretty good signal they're stable and diversifying. The organic segment isn't that crowded as Earth Fare, Sprouts and other aren't head to head with WFM in most markets and have based their success largely on under served mid-major cities, and even smaller cities with favorable demographics.

Whole Foods Market's actions disagree with you on being stable. It is closing nine stores nationwide, and it is cancelling plans to expand to 1,200 stores across the United States.

Further reading
Peterson, Hayley. "Whole Foods is closing stores — see if yours is on the list." Business Insider. 9 February 2017.

[Carolina Knight]

Originally Posted by DanielAvery

Going public was probably the biggest mistake The Fresh Market ever made. Issuing stock means having all your financials broadcast for the world to see (and criticize), but more devastatingly it means everything (workplace morale, bonuses, salaries) takes second place to making the shareholders happy. I'd hate to see Publix do to its employees what happens in so many companies who cow-tow to their stingy stockholders.

Fresh Market agreed to be bought out by a venture capitalist firm last year in order to get out of the stock market, but they seem to have exchanged one harsh master for another...and their expansion path has virtually gone into neutral. Like Publix, Fresh Market cancelled certain department head bonuses without explanation, and even sought to cancel Christmas bonuses for all employees but had to relent in the face of social media backlash.

The Fresh Market has struggled with overextending itself across the United States instead of infilling in its contiguous footprint. The unfortunate results are the closing of several stores and exits from several states.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

. The organic segment isn't that crowded as Earth Fare, Sprouts and other aren't head to head with WFM in most markets and have based their success largely on under served mid-major cities, and even smaller cities with favorable demographics.

The organic space is very crowded, part of the reason whole foods stock has been dead money for a few years now and they are trying to shed the moniker of "whole paycheck" by opening the "365" stores

http://blog.marketresearch.com/compe...food-retailers

http://time.com/91192/whole-foods-st...etition-grows/

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Carolina Knight

Whole Foods Market's actions disagree with you on being stable. It is closing nine stores nationwide, and it is cancelling plans to expand to 1,200 stores across the United States.

Further reading
Peterson, Hayley. "Whole Foods is closing stores — see if yours is on the list." Business Insider. 9 February 2017.

Closing nine and opening six, that's hardly earth-shattering and neither is a 2% decrease in same store sales over one quarter..in a general election year to boot. One call also cherry-pick perspective as others have stated similar to this: "RBC Capital Markets is more optimistic about Whole Foods’ near-term future. The bank believes investor sentiment will improve with the 365 openings and share repurchases. Whole Foods still has $603 million left of its stock buyback authorization.

“Going forward, we expect comps to improve as prior year comparisons get easier, marketing efforts begin to target incremental customers, and cannibalization headwind eases,” analysts wrote in a Thursday note.

RBC Capital rates Whole Foods shares outperform with a $37 price target."