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 :)