Publix to open October 29th (Charlotte: appointed, parking, park)

[Carolina Knight]

Originally Posted by North_Pinellas_Guy

Usually their aisles are wide. I wonder if they have a smaller footprint at that location.

Originally Posted by twingles

It's not a huge store. Last time we were in FL we stayed in a condo and there was a Publix across the street and it was huge. When you walk in this one, you go right to deli/produce/bakery/prepared foods or you go left and there's about 10 aisles.

Originally Posted by North_Pinellas_Guy

Thx. That explains it. Kinda defeats a lot of what Publix is about, when it comes to the shopping experience. I wonder why they picked such a small footprint, when trying to make a good first impression?

Originally Posted by MikeJaquish

It is a fabulous location, and probably very expensive.
They will build more, larger stores, I expect, but this is just a great place to get started.

Originally Posted by pmcap98

Went today and it was crazy. It felt like Stew Leonard's on Dec. 23. Just crazy. I've been to Publix before and this store feels small. The aisles were so narrow. I couldn't get anywhere near the deli or bakery. I'll just stick to HT and try it again when the newness dies down.

Originally Posted by North_Pinellas_Guy

If that is the case, customers will need to factor that into their initial opinions. Normally the aisles are wide.

Publix #1466 is 49,098 square feet in size. I would like to inquire how it is maximizing its space.

• How much space is allocated to service departments, specifically bakery, delicatessen and produce?
• How many aisles are dedicated to grocery?
• How many aisles are dedicated to frozen foods?
• Is the health and beauty care section included in the grocery aisles, or is it separate with its own aisles near the pharmacy?

[Sherifftruman]

So, we braved the masses and went Sunday at about 2:00. We had already planned to do our HT portion of the weekly shop on Sunday anyway, so we swung by Publix instead. Me typically by some items at WalMart Neighborhood Market, some at Food Lion and some at HT. We do not go to all three every weekend, but almost always at least two as we want certain brands and no one store carries all our brands and also has the meant and deli stuff that we buy.

TL;DR: Overall, it is on par with Harris Teeter. Mostly similar prices (some up, some down) and selection.

The physical store was nice. Probably a touch nicer than the average HT but not leaps and bounds and there are some HTs that are as nice.
They had Terrazzo flooring which was impressive and not something you see every day any more. Terrazzo is expensive up front, but is THE flooring material for a decorative flooring treatment in high traffic areas if you want it to last a lifetime. Many stores use vinyl tiles or plank flooring (both of which can be OK if done with an eye for design, but do not wear as well) or even sometimes forgo the finish altogether and just polish the concrete. They also had two large ceiling "clouds" of acoustical tile over the main shopping aisles. The produce/deli areas, the front of the store and the center where the coolers were was open to the painted deck. I am not opposed to the open ceiling look personally as it can make the store seem bigger, but they did spend about $1.50 more per square foot than they had to to get a certain look and it does help the sound level.

The gondolas were painted white and had a polished metal strip at the edge for price tags. My recollection is most stores in the area have painted metal edges and is really just another example of where they have spent money to have a small upgrade in the looks of things. I have never been in another Publix before, so I cannot comment about the usual aisle width, but this did not seem especially tight, at least when we ran across a space with few or no other shoppers. Certainly no tighter than the HT across the street, which due to the size has tighter aisles than the one on Davis and McCrimmon, but not by a huge amount. I think much of the tightness is due to the fact that the store has twice as many shoppers as it normally would, none of them know the layout (which is vastly different than all the other stores in the area) and are as much just looking around. When you get a few people like this together, especially in a corner like in Dairy, it is a problem. They should probably also make a rule that for the first 2-3 weeks, no one is allowed to have their kids under 10 pushing the cart. I would not say the store is a "small" store as the produce and Deli areas seemed on par with other area stores and there were 14 aisles across if I remember, with the pharmacy and HaBA area taking up one normal aisle and a couple of small aisles up in the front between the registers and pharmacy.

We did not need too much produce this trip and it was pretty busy, so we did not search extensively, but it seemed to have a good selection and looked good. The adjacent Deli section was an absolute madhouse. They had a semi line to the prepared sandwich area, cordoned off with tensabarrier. There were probably 40 people in line when I was there and I had just eaten, so I did not jump in. I did circle around to the actual meat and cheese part of the counter and saw they had Boars Head, which is good. The pricing seemed pretty similar to HT. They could have probably used a number system at least for right now, but it was not too terribly bad. The employees were polite, helpful and quick. There were also manager types and a few regular workers out beyond the counter helping people. This was typical throughout the store.

The fish counter was at the level I expected and very similar to the HT at Stone Creek, both of which are better than the one further up Davis. The meat counter was not as large as HT and they had no pork at all in the "good" meat area, just beef. Only wrapped pork was available further down. The guy who was stocking did say they will happily break down any wrapped portion, so we found some nice thick pork chops in a large package and got them to break 2 out. At HT they do have the thick cuts in the case for you to pick directly so it is a bit easier to see than in the wrapped pack . The rest of the wrapped stuff seemed like a good selection and their pricing was good, but nothing spectacular, as I expected.

Through the rest of the store, they had a decent selection. My wife was happy to see a good selection of Ronzoni pasta. HT stopped carrying it and Food Lion has a very limited number of items. I looked for a specific type of Right Guard anti-perspirant/deodorant I use that all the area stores stopped carrying in the last few years and I have to buy from Amazon and they did not have that either. They had most of the brands we were looking for though. They had one aisle with international foods and a good selection of gluten free items if you need that. Beer and wine was decent (did not walk the wine area, but it seemed, from a non-wine drinkers POV to be similar to HT.) They had make your own 6packs and an OK selection of local and other "high quality" beers, but the vast majority of their space was dedicated to the usual ABInBev and MillerCoors products. Nothing unexpected, but if you want to dive deep in beer selection, just go up Davis to Triangle Wine. I was hoping they would carry Maple View Farms milk, but they seem to have their own brand primarily.

There was a definite employee overload. They have someone that is directing people at the self service registers which is good as sometimes those areas can get a bit discombobulated with people doing random things. Not sure if that is an ongoing thing though. They also have a person at each register that takes things out of your cart and puts them on the belt. They guy that did ours asked lots of questions about our experience and told us how awesome Publix is and said that they would always have them there, it was not an opening type of thing. Personally, even if they somehow place thing son the belt in an order that helps the cashier I have a hard time seeing how that is a cost effective use of resources. They also have the baggers, which in spite of any arrangement by the unloader, ours till managed to botch up our bagging job a bit. The guy was adamant that they will always take your items out to the car. Again, I like that they provide the option, but going out every time seems a bit of a waste. They were all so eager that it almost seemed like a bit too much small talk to make with random employees, but I assume that will reduce with time.

All in all, it is definitely a good competitor to HT and Lowes. I have not been in the Lowes since the big renovation, but seeing things in the nearby HT, it is clear that HT people have been in Publix stores and they have been doing small renovations and additions specifically to target things that Publix has that are perceived to be an advantage, so the effects of competition are already providing benefits to the consumer. All in all, for my wife and I, Publix cannot eliminate trips to HT, but for most things, we can certainly go by there on occasion.

[C_Lan]

^^ Ronzoni Pasta and bread are the tow things I'll go to Publix for.

I went there yesterday for bread. In the entry area they had two baskets loaded with the same item, one being a basket priced at publix and one being priced at HT for comparison. They are definitely going after HTs market. I also paid attention to the aisles...if anything maybe a foot narrower than your average market? They need more parking space since the 3 times I've stopped by I've found parking to be a chore.

[Sherifftruman]

Originally Posted by C_Lan

^^ Ronzoni Pasta and bread are the tow things I'll go to Publix for.

I went there yesterday for bread. In the entry area they had two baskets loaded with the same item, one being a basket priced at publix and one being priced at HT for comparison. They are definitely going after HTs market. I also paid attention to the aisles...if anything maybe a foot narrower than your average market? They need more parking space since the 3 times I've stopped by I've found parking to be a chore.

I must have missed the basket up front in all the craziness. But, I am sure that HT on any random day can find 50 items they are lower on than even Food Lion. It all depends on what YOU buy. I would say they are pretty equal overall. Maybe if they would get rid of some of the loaders and baggers they could have lower prices.

[The Villages Guy]

Originally Posted by Carolina Knight

Publix #1466 is 49,098 square feet in size. I would like to inquire how it is maximizing its space.

• How much space is allocated to service departments, specifically bakery, delicatessen and produce?
• How many aisles are dedicated to grocery?
• How many aisles are dedicated to frozen foods?
• Is the health and beauty care section included in the grocery aisles, or is it separate with its own aisles near the pharmacy?

Sorry, but I wouldn't have a clue about your questions. All I can say is what people say they love about Publix are the wide aisles (which is a big help for people like me with scooters and wheelchairs), the breads, the deli, the customer service....including bagging and bringing the items to your car. These are what come up most when talking about Publix. That is why it is surprising to me that the new Publix has narrow aisles. The exact opposite of what they normally do.

[newbee2]

time they open a wegmans too

[Funky Chicken]

We went early yesterday morning thanks to setting the clocks back as dog owners.
Deli was overrun and not operating at peak efficiency-Boars Head items $1 per pound higher than HT.
Produce, meat, and fish all very nice-at least as nice as HT. Bought some boneless ribeyes that were fantastic last night.
I line the fact that you don't need a shoppers card
I like the BOGO items
I like that if they have a 10 for $10 item or similar you can buy a single item and get the lower price
If anything the presence of Publix might shake up HT a little bit-they have really had no competition here. Between Publix and Lowe's Foods enhancing their stores we will all benefit.

[Carolina Knight]

Originally Posted by North_Pinellas_Guy

Sorry, but I wouldn't have a clue about your questions. All I can say is what people say they love about Publix are the wide aisles (which is a big help for people like me with scooters and wheelchairs), the breads, the deli, the customer service....including bagging and bringing the items to your car. These are what come up most when talking about Publix. That is why it is surprising to me that the new Publix has narrow aisles. The exact opposite of what they normally do.

I would like to assume Publix wanted to add more room to service departments and fresh foods. The quickest way to do this is narrow the width of aisles. An image I have seen of an aisle are enough to be two carts wide.

Still new to me is Publix including self checkout lanes in new stores. That is a major change.

Suggested reading:

• Jones Hoyle, Amanda. "Sneak Peek: Inside the First Publix Store in the Triangle." Triangle Business Journal. 2014-10-28. Retrieved 2014-11-03. <http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2014/10/28/sneak-peek-inside-the-first-publix-store-cary.html>
• "Publix Holds Grand Opening of Cary Store." WNCN-TV. 2014-10-29. Retrieved 2014-11-03. <http://www.wncn.com/story/27158736/publix-holds-grand-opening-of-cary-store>

[Dire Wolf]

We popped in this weekend to check it out. We were going to shop, but the crowds were so insane, we decided to just do a walkthrough. It was pretty nice. Reminded me of some of the nearby Harris Teeters with a bit of Whole Foods mixed in.

While it seemed a bit small, it was really hard to judge because it was so incredibly packed. I do wonder about the parking lot once the other businesses open. For instance, I saw that a Brixx was going in next door. I have a feeling it is going to be a very busy parking lot.

Produce, bread, meats, etc. all looked fantastic.

[drrckmtthws]

it's packed now because it's new, it will die down, only took me one day to say forget this let me hit up Lowes or let me just let me hit up HT for the five dollar foot long Fridays.If you go toward later hours like 8 or 9 parking is not that much of an issue, I already stated this but do your self a favor and get there eggnog ice cream, their ice cream is on BoGo right now any way.

On a side note I was thinking the same thing(parking) in regards to when the other businesses open, So far it looks like Tijuana Flats, some nail place(hope they change their mind and put something else ) Brixx and some spa place(hope they change their mind on the spa place too). Will say there multiple items not there which keeps people grocery store hoping which should make parking a lil better when folks learn xyz item isn't there.