Publix is struggling against competition (Ocala: to live, restaurant, price)
Tampa BayTampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater
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Publix has been complacent for far too long, enjoying its monopoly on Florida. Now that people have so many cheaper options, there's nothing to lure people back to Publix.
Publix stores look exactly like they did in 1987. Meanwhile people are flocking to stores like Aldi, Lidl, Trader Joe's, Sprouts, Lucky's, Fresh Thyme Market, etc., with nicer amenities like freshly fried tortilla chips and juice bars and and more prepared foods and cheaper prices. People today expect fresh food, gourmet prepared food and cheaper prices, period. Not aisles and aisles of overpriced boxed junk, like at Publix. The Lucky's and Sprouts stores are jam-packed with shoppers. And we know how Trader Joe's is: good luck finding a parking spot! Then there's all the other cheap competitors like Walmart, Dollar General, etc. Publix can't compete unless it offers something the others do not.
I feel sorry for retailers that don't innovate. Retailers like Sears, Macy's, Publix. They are living on borrowed time.
Publix was the main "show" in town for groceries up in Tallahassee and Panama City when I was still there. I am kind of surprised by that report. Publix is similar to "HEB" in Texas or "King Soopers" in Colorado for having a strong in-state presence.
In my opinion, Publix still has a lot of room to grow and maintain that monopoly. That USF has a data mining program in its College of Business. All they have to do is data mining with GIS data to figure out "potential new growth neighborhoods" that are not likely to be invaded by Walmart or a similar store.
A good example is Blountstown, FL. It has no Publix or any other major grocery store. But yet a lot of people travel through that area on route 20 from Tallahassee to the Gulf Area: Panama City, Niceville, etc.
A new Publix there would get volumes of business. There are many other similar areas in Florida. Publix is the main game in the state and can stay that way with data mining.
I have since February returned to my home state of Arizona. Here, Fry's is the main store chain. I don't see Publix going the route of "Smitty's" of Arizona which became defunct back in the 1990s despite having a strong presence in the previous decades. Publix is doing far better than Smitty's before it fell. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...994b9d29d2.jpg
Lastly, I am a huge fan of ALDI, and interestingly, both ALDI in the area are across the street from very nice Publix stores. People usually shop at both; they definitely complement each other. I am a big fan of ALDI for some basics and seasonal items. Quality is great. And like another poster mentioned, there are all kinds of shoppers here, upscale, young professionals, students, along with seniors. I rarely if ever see the "homeless" types here. That is Walmart's crowd.
I totally agree about ALDI, gypsychic. It's the same here in Atlanta, and we're lucky enough to have one literally around the corner.
A little known other cool thing about them is that all of their pasta is Barilla.
Publix was the main "show" in town for groceries up in Tallahassee and Panama City when I was still there. I am kind of surprised by that report. Publix is similar to "HEB" in Texas or "King Soopers" in Colorado for having a strong in-state presence.
In my opinion, Publix still has a lot of room to grow and maintain that monopoly. That USF has a data mining program in its College of Business. All they have to do is data mining with GIS data to figure out "potential new growth neighborhoods" that are not likely to be invaded by Walmart or a similar store.
A good example is Blountstown, FL. It has no Publix or any other major grocery store. But yet a lot of people travel through that area on route 20 from Tallahassee to the Gulf Area: Panama City, Niceville, etc.
A new Publix there would get volumes of business. There are many other similar areas in Florida. Publix is the main game in the state and can stay that way with data mining.
I have since February returned to my home state of Arizona. Here, Fry's is the main store chain. I don't see Publix going the route of "Smitty's" of Arizona which became defunct back in the 1990s despite having a strong presence in the previous decades. Publix is doing far better than Smitty's before it fell. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...994b9d29d2.jpg
Yeah, Publix does very well in Atlanta too. They and Kroger are equally dominant in the market here.
It's funny you mention King Soopers and Fry's, they're both owned by Kroger.
Sprouts has become very popular here, and I really like them. We're getting a couple of Whole Foods new 365 concepts. Lucky's is also coming soon. Trader Joe's is always slammed, I'm convinced the small parking lot situation is the same everywhere. It's been rumored that Wegmans is eyeing Atlanta since they are coming as far south as Raleigh now. We also have a few huge international Farmers Markets that are amazing.
It sounds like there's an explosion in markets everywhere now, I just wonder how this will all shake out!
Oh, and thanks for the mention of Blountstown. I went through Jr. High and the first part of High School in Tallahassee, and have fond memories of those areas south of town.
If you think Publix is "upscale," you need to do some more traveling. The only thing "upscale" about Publix is the prices. Otherwise it's just another Kroger, Safeway, Winn Dixie, Hy-Vee, traditional type grocer. There is nothing "upscale" about Publix stores.
Please educate us on what exactly is "upscale" about Publix????? Quality food in the bakery? I dare you to find any baked goods in Publix that are not made with a laundry list of chemicals, instead of butter, flour, water, sugar and salt. I dare you to find cookies that are made with butter. Where are the organic breads at the Publix bakery, which every store elsewhere in the country have?
If you shop at Mariano's in Chicago or Wegmans in Virginia or Central Market in Texas, you will pay Publix prices but at least you will have a bakery where the cookies are made with butter instead of chemicals (like the crap at the Publix bakery). At least you will have a produce department that has 30 types of mushrooms. At least you will have a prepared foods section where you can buy organic mashed potatoes. At Publix, you get none of that.
As for Sprouts, Lucky's, Fresh Thyme, Natural Grocers, Earth Fare, and many many other competitors, they are all fast growing chains expanding all over the USA and yes including in Florida. If they don't already have stores here, they are planning to open in Florida very soon.
If this is how seriously Central Market takes cookies in the bakery, you can imagine how much quality can be found elsewhere in the store. That list pretty much sums up why Publix is lagging behind competitors. If Publix is going to charge higher prices, then it needs to offer higher quality foods. Otherwise, people will go to Aldi, Walmart, Sprouts, etc. Just because Publix has plans to expand doesn't mean it's a healthy company. Sears also has plans to expand.
I'll take back what I said. Publix is probably not an "upscaled grocery store." I don't think Publix markets its self like that. The way I see Publix is just as a regular grocery store, that just tries to be cleaner and have good customer service. I feel like the quality of the food is good, and the fruits and vegetables tend to come from more expensive suppliers.
You have to understand the grocery ecosystem in Florida to understand Publix. The thing is, in Florida, we don't have a "Krogers" or "Food Lion" or "Albertsons." Like regular grocery stores. There are very few left. Taht's because in Florida, Walmart has taken over the grocery sector. Super Walmarts and Super Targets have wiped out all of the previous regular grocery stores, by offering prices that are below what regular grocery chains can afford to to have. In Florida, Publix has differentiated itself by makingitself cleaner and by having friendly staff and a bagger and fresher fruits and vegetables. Publix come in different sizes. In the upscaled neighborhoods, they have larger concept stores with larger cheese, meats and wine selections as well as a little section to eat in.
From what I saw the Central Market store you mentioned seems like Whole Foods. Whole Foods has the dozens of different cheese types, soup types, an en entire food bar, and all kinds of unique offerings.
Aldi in Florida is pretty squarely towards lower income people and that's because all of the Aldi's are in neighborhoods where people can benefit from the lower prices. I didn't mean to say it's not good. They do have good food. I'm just saying, they do have lowest prices (in some cases lower than Walmart), so of course they're going to attract people who want to save the most money. It's why EBT cards and Snap cards or whatever they are called now, are advertised as being accepted. It's a good strategy for Aldi, because Aldi has found a way to undercut even Walmart and they make good food.
I'll be honest, I just shop at Publix during certain sales and for certain bakery items and deli, and that's it. To me, Publix fits well with the ecosystem in Florida, however, I could see how perhaps in other places the Publix way of having an overpriced grocery store with good service might not work.
Publix was the main "show" in town for groceries up in Tallahassee and Panama City when I was still there. I am kind of surprised by that report. Publix is similar to "HEB" in Texas or "King Soopers" in Colorado for having a strong in-state presence.
In my opinion, Publix still has a lot of room to grow and maintain that monopoly. That USF has a data mining program in its College of Business. All they have to do is data mining with GIS data to figure out "potential new growth neighborhoods" that are not likely to be invaded by Walmart or a similar store.
A good example is Blountstown, FL. It has no Publix or any other major grocery store. But yet a lot of people travel through that area on route 20 from Tallahassee to the Gulf Area: Panama City, Niceville, etc.
A new Publix there would get volumes of business. There are many other similar areas in Florida. Publix is the main game in the state and can stay that way with data mining.
I have since February returned to my home state of Arizona. Here, Fry's is the main store chain. I don't see Publix going the route of "Smitty's" of Arizona which became defunct back in the 1990s despite having a strong presence in the previous decades. Publix is doing far better than Smitty's before it fell. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...994b9d29d2.jpg
Have you been to an HEB store lately? The new ones they are building now? Much larger than Publix, they look more like a Walmart Supercenter. HUGE prepared foods sections, huge produce sections. Again they make Publix look paltry.
Publix's monopoly is over. Between online grocers, all the new brick and mortar competitors, and people cooking less, Publix will either have to lower prices or build grocerants (grocery stores where 50% of the space is devoted to prepared foods, which is what more and more consumers want) to survive.
I'll take back what I said. Publix is probably not an "upscaled grocery store." I don't think Publix markets its self like that. The way I see Publix is just as a regular grocery store, that just tries to be cleaner and have good customer service. I feel like the quality of the food is good, and the fruits and vegetables tend to come from more expensive suppliers.
You have to understand the grocery ecosystem in Florida to understand Publix. The thing is, in Florida, we don't have a "Krogers" or "Food Lion" or "Albertsons." Like regular grocery stores. There are very few left. Taht's because in Florida, Walmart has taken over the grocery sector. Super Walmarts and Super Targets have wiped out all of the previous regular grocery stores, by offering prices that are below what regular grocery chains can afford to to have. In Florida, Publix has differentiated itself by makingitself cleaner and by having friendly staff and a bagger and fresher fruits and vegetables. Publix come in different sizes. In the upscaled neighborhoods, they have larger concept stores with larger cheese, meats and wine selections as well as a little section to eat in.
From what I saw the Central Market store you mentioned seems like Whole Foods. Whole Foods has the dozens of different cheese types, soup types, an en entire food bar, and all kinds of unique offerings.
Aldi in Florida is pretty squarely towards lower income people and that's because all of the Aldi's are in neighborhoods where people can benefit from the lower prices. I didn't mean to say it's not good. They do have good food. I'm just saying, they do have lowest prices (in some cases lower than Walmart), so of course they're going to attract people who want to save the most money. It's why EBT cards and Snap cards or whatever they are called now, are advertised as being accepted. It's a good strategy for Aldi, because Aldi has found a way to undercut even Walmart and they make good food.
I'll be honest, I just shop at Publix during certain sales and for certain bakery items and deli, and that's it. To me, Publix fits well with the ecosystem in Florida, however, I could see how perhaps in other places the Publix way of having an overpriced grocery store with good service might not work.
And what you don't understand, and what Publix doesn't understand, is that the grocery ecosystem in Florida has COMPLETELY CHANGED in the past 5-10 years (mass retail, online grocers, grocery delivery, new brick and mortar competitors etc.). Publix has been asleep at the wheel and now they are paying the price. They have failed to improve the quality of their product assortment. They have failed to improve the quality of their store experience. They have failed to lower prices. People are finding there's few reasons to shop at Publix. Sad.
Let me give you an example. My sister has a family of four. She's very wealthy. Once Trader Joe's came in, she stopped going to Publix altogether. She shops exclusively at Costco and Trader Joe's now (she used to shop at Costco and Publix). I tell her "oh I just got back from Publix" and she says things like "can't remember the last time I set foot in a Publix". My sister is a NATIVE FLORIDIAN who grew up with Publix and loves Publix. And she can afford Publix prices. But she says the quality of the food at Trader Joe's and Costco is better than Publix, especially the produce. This is just her opinion (not mine). But I can guarantee to you that like my sister, there's hundreds of thousands if not millions of other people in Florida who think like her and have stopped going to Publix and now shop at XXXXXXYYYYZZZZZZ competitors.
Like I said in another post, Publix's monopoly is over.
Central Market is not a Whole Foods. It's just a grocery chain owned by HEB that imagined what consumers wanted before they knew they wanted it. Central Market predicted consumer trends and innovated when it needed to. They started building grocerants, where half the store is prepared foods. They are booming.
As I've mentioned before in a few similar topics, it has become a rarity (and largely in the form of occasional convenience) that my wife and I shop at Publix. Shopping at Publix for the items we typically prepare and consume would cost an average of $3,000 more per-year for the two of us and that just seems foolish by any measure.
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