Publix vs Target and WalMart (2013, floors, shoppers)

[Paul_Porter]

Hey, I lived in W Cobb in ATL, and I can tell you Publix was giving Kroger bigtime headaches.

[Paul_Porter]

Publix is expanding waay faster in the Carolina region than anything now on paper by Wegman's. Wegman's is playing in a totally new pool than they are used to.


Publix also is far better known now than Wegman's.....name recognition in that region has already been established.

[boy3365]

Originally Posted by JMatl

We still have a diverse middle-market grocery scene, and Publix has grown to the point where they are head-to-head competitors with Kroger.

One of the main differences between the two within the past few years is Publix is willing to go into mixed-use urban developments. With just a couple of exceptions, Kroger is not.

Some of the newer Kroger's are huge, though. Their new store in the Lindbergh area of South Buckhead is over 80,000 square feet.

Originally Posted by gypsychic

One more comment I want to add here is that I personally prefer smaller footprint stores, and I think that is a growing trend. People do not really need a football-field size grocery store (like Wegman's) especially with the growth of online sales. Publix seems to be going with that trend in some new stores they are building. My neighborhood Publix is one of their smallest (and oldest, but recently remodeled) and it is ALWAYS busy as hell. Same workers have been there for years, which speaks volumes to me. I also like ALDI for the same reason (small footprint)

Now I realize I am not speaking for everyone, as many love those giant stores like Wegman, Costco and the like. But for many more people, especially in this era of more moving to the urban core, I think the small size stores will be more and more popular.

I've seen some huge looking Krogers from the outside in Texas, but I've never been inside. I have been inside of an HEB though.

My bad about Atlanta. I was going off of what I heard. As far as store sizes, the timeline with Publix the past few years has been interesting, especially in light of comments from some that they don't respond well to changes in the market.

Headline in the Business Journal around 2015-16: Publix is trying to figure out a way to build a small-format prototype so they can build in urban downtowns and coastal areas.

Transplants to Florida: Wegmans or whoever back home is so big. You can spend hours there. Publix needs to be like that.

Grocery in 2017: Smaller format stores like Aldi, Trader Joe's, Lucky's Market, Sprouts, Earth Fare, etc. are expanding into Florida and proving to be popular nationally. (Interestingly, the new Winter Park Sprouts is not doing nearly as well on Yelp as any of the Lucky's, and Sprouts has more national brand-power.)

Publix in 2017-18: Debuts small-format stores in Gainesville and Downtown St. Pete in 2017. Reinvents its Greenwise store concept with a new store in Tallahassee in 2018 with plans to expand.

[Concert D Major]

Every other time you get apples or grapes, they're always mushy no matter what store you to go. What is the deal with mushy, soft grapes and apples everywhere you go around here.

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by Concert D Major

Every other time you get apples or grapes, they're always mushy no matter what store you to go. What is the deal with mushy, soft grapes and apples everywhere you go around here.

Buying pears can be bear also.

[Eeko156]

Originally Posted by Concert D Major

Every other time you get apples or grapes, they're always mushy no matter what store you to go. What is the deal with mushy, soft grapes and apples everywhere you go around here.

I agree. Mushy produce everywhere - and it is not cheap.

[Thundarr457]

Publix is not afraid to buy another chain to enter the market while Wegmans prefers to open new stores from scratch. As far as head to head with Wegmans and Publix we will see. Wegmans is more like a Whole Foods with massive fresh fruit, vegetables, prepared food and bakery sections. They sell a ton of prepared food since that's where the money is and Walmart does not compete in that area. Publix will adapt to Wegmans and they have a better distribution network and the majority of their stores are located in the fast growing SE vs Wegmans in the moribund NE. I shopped at Wegmans for 30+ years and I don't miss them one bit. I wasn't a big prepared foods consumer which in addition to bakery and produce was Wegmans forte.

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by Eeko156

I agree. Mushy produce everywhere - and it is not cheap.

It must be frozen for months.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by LKJ1988

It must be frozen for months.

They are very hit-or-miss... Some weeks, the produce is excellent. Other weeks, it is absolute garbage. Right now, the apples at the Publix near me are amazing.

[Alanin502]

I really like the Walmart Neighborhood markets here. But coming from the North, I must say Publix stores are awesome and clean compared to Krogers. Their deli is awesome. And warning, don't ever buy banana pudding or doughnuts from Publix. You'll get addicted and gain weight. Yowza