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Originally Posted by Boomer
I love Publix. I really miss Publix clean, bright, service-oriented stores when I am north in the land of Krogrrrrr. (I wish Kroger and Meijer would send reconnaissance teams to Publix to see how it should be done.)
I love those Publix recipes with the ingredients all in a row. Before I headed north this time, I bought the Publix cookbook to bring along. (Of course, now I will have to forage for the ingredients at Krogrrrrr where the plot seems to be to make anything not a Kroger brand almost impossible to find.)
I even love the green shirts the Publix employees wear, as well as the green theme throughout the store.
I love Publix reusable grocery bags, hanging there at checkout, with their lovely, ever-changing designs. I have used those bags as Easter baskets. And I even bought the one with the big letter P on it so I could use it as a monogrammed purse. (Goodbye Coach.  )
But the biggest reason I love Publix is because I love their business plan. The employees own a big percentage of Publix through their privately held stock. The family that owns Publix has its share of billionaires but their successful business was not built on the backs of their employees. Publix was built alongside the employees.
According to an article in Forbes, "All staffers who have put in 1000 work hours and a year of employment receive an additional 8.5% of their pay in company stock." Publix makes the Forbes "America's Best Employers" list. Publix is on Fortune's "100 Best" list, too.
Even though Publix stock is not publicly traded, it functions like many publicly traded companies that believe in profit-sharing. Cincinnati-based Procter and Gamble has been well known for its employee stock plan. There are many successful companies that do the same thing.
Employee ownership in a company is capitalism in its best form. And that's the kind of capitalism I love. (Just imagine if all the cashiers at Walmart received company stock in addition to their pay.)
Link to cited source from Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianso.../#48db5bf95d3f |
Publix items may cost a bit more because they provide for their employees better than most grocery stores.
I attended college with the grandson of the founder of Publix. When it came his turn, he became President of the company. In college he was a down-to-earth, friendly person, and few people knew he was a millionaire. After college we were in touch a few times and he was as friendly as ever. He donated several million dollars to our alma mater for new construction.
Here's something you might find interesting about Publix stores. Every store has an emergency power generator which provides power to the store if commercial power is interrupted, so none of the frozen or refrigerated food ever has a chance to defrost, or partially defrost, with the potential for spoilage. This is important in a state that is subject to hurricanes, tropical storms, and thunderstorms that can interrupt electrical service.
Many other stores do not have this feature. At these stores a store manager may convince himself that a power failure that does not result in full defrosting of frozen food may be overlooked if power is restored in time to re-freeze the food. Not a chance I want to take.
Well stocked stores, good customer service, employee friendly benefits............ Publix works for me.