...With the caveat at Wal-Mart being "when you can find it".

Wal-Mart carries a lot of the same brands as Publix. "Wright" brand thick-sliced bacon for example, which is pricey at Publix for something like $12.00 for a 1.5 pound package. WallyWorld sells it for about $3.50 less per a 1.5 pound package--except that we haven't found any there for at least a month now. Braunschweiger as well: $2.99 at Publix, maybe a few cents less at Wal-Mart...when they have it, which is pretty much never these days.

I know they blame it on supply problems. But those supply problems apparently aren't the same for some stores.

Dianne Zugnoni
 

You got that right~~

I shop Walmart, Aldi, and once in a while Winn Dixie. Publix prices are ridiculous.

Affluent and, dare I say, spoiled.

Gee, I wonder why that is. Could it be the Boar's Head products only Publix sells in this area? Hmmm.

I get it. Prices are cheaper than Publix. But......Publix has customer service that can not be beat. I give the edge to Publix every time for an all around shopping experience. As an example.....Publix will special order items they do not carry in the store.

In my family it’s mostly hubby who is the food hunter. He goes to all the grocery stores around. Starts at Walmart, then, Winn-Dixie, next Publix. Then specialty stores. Magnolia Publix had fresh Georgia peaches, and I couldn’t believe he actually drove from Mallory just for them. On the other hand, we have delicious fresh food most of the time.

We've been using Kroger for months. They are much cheaper and the service is excellent! Everything comes in refrigerated trucks and the ice cream comes frozen. It's very rare that I have to shop somewhere else. Most of the time they have the things we need in stock.

Wegmans!
 

Wegmans is the best and I wish they would come down here, but I've heard they made a deal with Publix that they both would stay out of the other's territory. Publix has improved over the 10 years I've lived here.

Publix and Wegmans are in N.C. and VA.

Ok, first I am positive there is a Winn Dixie a lot closer than 30 minutes... everything is one to two miles away. Now as for items, since the covid situation, a lot of people are going to TWO different grocery stores. Not everything is always at one store anymore. Some times if you do find EVERYTHING in one store, you won't find it again, its a hit or miss. You do what you got to do.

Note that there are only 3 Winn Dixie stores, but there are 10 Publix stores in the Villages area.

WOW!
This thread almost 8,000 views in one day. That’s a lot of clicks……

I am still new to TV and Florida.

We were spoiled in the mid-Atlantic states. If you've never been to a Wegmans, you are missing something special.

In Chicago, I visited a Dominick's (I think that was the name), it was very nice.

In Virginia, there was a smaller chain named Ukrop's. It was special.

The Ukrop and Wegmann families were friends. They shared trade secrets and agreed to never poach the other's territory. The owners of Harris-Teeter were also friends with the Ukrops and Wegmanns. They all vacationed together in the summers. They would help each other with distribution, marketing, other industry practices.

Supposedly, hot food packaging and sales began with one of these companies.

We had Lidl and Aldi in the mid-Atlantic. Both are owned by brothers who would compete with one another. One of them also owns Trader Joe's.

Publix is nice, but expensive.

Winn Dixie is fine.

The Walmart Neighborhood Market in TV is nice.

I do wish we had more choices around TV, though.

By the way, why does Kroger advertise on TV, but I haven't see one anywhere near.

And WD has a better Italian and Asian selection than Publix and more varieties of Yanceys Fancy cheeses than Publix. Point being, nirvana is being able to find what you want using BOTH stores.

A longtime Floridian couple told us when we first moved to Florida the following: Shop Winn Dixie for meat, Walmart for “staples” and Publix for produce. Publix is closest so that is where we go 90% of the time. We do go to Sam’s three or four times a year.

Winn Dixie calls themselves "the meat people". But, when buying steak, I have always found Publix to be better than Winn Dixie. If you want USDA Prime, go to Sam's, but I think the USDA Choice steaks at Publix are as good or better than the Prime steaks at Sam's.

I have had several cashiers at Publix say that they shop at Winn Dixie because of the prices. We shop at all 4 depending what we need and where we are.

Neither of them are one stop shops. I'm very disappointed with the new Publix formats (466A and Magnolia). The deli waits at this circle is worse than their traditional formats. Ordering online alleviates that somewhat. Depending on whether you are a Boars Head fan, Winn Dixie and southeastern brand cold cuts are way more affordable. The lack of a meat counter at the "new" Publix is disconcerting. Winn Dixie actually carries PRIME filets and ribeyes. Walmart at Colony surprised me, blowing away either of the other pricing on land o lakes butter, yogurt, ice cream, frozen dinners, produce (bananas at 30c / lb !). I recently bought a chuck roast on impulse there, and found it way too tough, even after a slow cook. On the higher and lower spectrum, Fresh market is pricey, has interesting specials and food for 4 dinner combos, but the line to the meat and seafood counter is totally unacceptable to me. Their bakery is very good. On the low end, I dont shop at Aldi;s .. i wont shop at a place that smells like old newspapers or a warehouse, and admit I am a brand snob. I also go to Costco in Orlando every couple of months, and buy PRIME steaks and nice size frozen lobster tails, which are better than any of the above

I got tired of Publix running out of stock on items. I let them know every time they are out so they can adjust future purchases but lo and behold the problem never goes away. They just smile and do nothing. The last time this happened I decided to try WD. They had everything I was looking for that Publix can't seem to keep in stock. WD is The Villages best kept secret. Please do not shop there :)

Actually I like Winn-Dixie. But last week I told a cashier that there were a number of items I couldn’t find. Do you think this may be caused by the shipping backups we keep hearing about?

I am disappointed in Publix. Pricing is sky high. We shop at Kroger online and save a lot of $ and it’s delivered to our door.

The name is Kroger (no S on the end)

First 5 deliveries are free then 9.95 after that or $79 per year with unlimited deliveries. No tipping allowed

Publix is Over Priced
 

“Better” is a matter of opinion. Having worked in the Supermarket business in the NYTriState Area, I was taken back by Publix retails. For a Non-Union Shop with property taxes and rent a fraction of the cost in NYC, it is very disappointing to find NYC retails in Florida. Publix has more competition outside Florida, so it’s sales program, coupons, and senior discounts are available in other states where they operate. I have found the meat department at Winn Dixie to have superior products at better retails than Publix. Same with the Produce, Dairy, and Frozen food.

///

I'll make a separate trip to Walmart or Aldi to get a half-gallon of milk when I run low. I can't believe people willingly pay almost $3/HG when it's only $1.59 at Walmart.

Lots of options, I don’t like Amazon, Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. We like BJs as apposed to Sams or Costco.

It is funny, in Winn Dixie I was amazed at how small the bakery section was, I go into Publix and it is 3 times larger.

Good one but no, brought those with me.

I don’t think I have bought ice cream because I am use to 2 for $5 when up north. I went into Aldi once and was not impressed and my wife liked the meat in Publix better than Winn Dixie. Not sure what you get at Walmart but I don’t think I could buy meat there.

We went to Wegmans once, hated it so much we left after going halfway through the store.

My wife keeps reminding me that we are in the south and things take longer, lol.

Do you buy meat at Walmart? I just can’t bring myself to do that.

Where in Mass are you from? I might have to look at Aldi again, went in once and didn’t like it. Walmart market is a bit of a ride for groceries for us.

We use to order food online and have it delivered but the issue was we would get things that were ready to expire. When in the store you can select milk that is good for 2 weeks but when delivered we were luck to get 2 days so we shy away from that.

Up north we can find things in one store. We are no more than 5 minutes to the Publix in Mulberry Plaza but to get to Winn Dixie through Spanish Springs it is about 30 minutes. Not sure why you can’t believe that.

You get the first 5 or so free, and then we opted for the $79 per year unlimited vs the by delivery option.

To me, no different than Costco or Sams membership...well worth it.

Online only from a distribution center they opened I think in the Gainsville or Jacksonville area. I was super skeptical at first, but man, they are IMPRESSIVE! And NO TIPPING ALLOWED! A huge difference from other grocery shopping services.

IMHO the ONLY thing "the developer" did NOT get right about The Villages was ensuring a Wegmans was here.

Not a loss for me. Don’t like the store.