You pay more at Publix than at Wal-Mart but you get A) knowledgeable clerks; B) store personnel who will actually walk you to an item you can't find instead of waving vaguely in the general direction; C) produce that is far less pawed-over; D) Customer Service desk where the CSRs don't look as if they're moving in slow motion; and E) groceries packed by people who genuinely seem to know how to do it.

Sounds right.

The one near me has recently been placed on the list of soon-to-be Aldi replacements.

According to My Florida Retail Blog:
My Florida Retail Blog: Winn-Dixie to ALDI Conversions - Rolling List

That's one I would sometimes go to up there in Lady Lake.

It's very near me. When I shop in that plaza I always take the golf cart since it's less than 10 minutes away, and I only have to deal with traffic lights if I'm driving there by car.

I park near Belk's and walk across the plaza to the Target plaza next door, where I can get my catfood at Petco, see if anything I actually want is on the clearance rack at Skecher's, and recycle an ink cartridge or whatever at Staple's.

Then it's over to Chicken Salad Chicks for a pound of hubby's favorite, then Winn Dixie for a box of Pina Colada popsicles (I think they've retired that flavor and replaced it with strawberry-pina colada, which are still really delicious).

Have you had a Nothing Bundtlet yet? A little pricey but very good. Bundtlets & Bundtlet Towers - Nothing Bundt Cakes


I would go there often after donating platelets at One Blood but have not done platelets for a while. Just donating whole blood now. But will probably go back to the One Blood fixed location rather than doing it on a bus.

Publix is fine for the most part, however what they are not good at is " Deserts ".

The pies are Terrible, Baked Goods 90% are terrible, & the Ready Made meals are useless.:shocked:

Hah! I donated platelets two days ago at LifeSouth and picked up my Bundtlet coupon. I only get them when I have a BOGO coupon - not paying $6 for what amounts to a single slice of cake with over-sweet white frosting. I like the lemon, the double chocolate, and they have occasional specialty holiday options that are pretty good. The apple caramel one going on now is decent.

Publix at the other end of the plaza is decent. Unfortunately Publix is notorious for annoyingly SLOW sub-shop and hot-bar employees. They have no sense of urgency at all. You don't need to be an "artiste" to slap a few slices of tomatoes across a sub roll. If there are even two people ahead of you, expect to wait around 15 minutes just to order your sub. If you order online, make sure you do it at least an hour before you need to pick it up. They'll get to it when they get to it.

Really delicious subs but just mind-numbingly slow.

The ice cream is kick-ass. Coconut Road, or Chocolate Trinity are both terrific.

Sometimes their single-serve ready-to-cook meals are on sale, so I look to see if there's any selection that interests me when I'm there.

In other words - things that are specific to Publix - I sometimes buy. But I generally won't buy regular groceries there, and you won't ever see me buying a quart of milk at Publix. They want over $3.00 for a quart of 2%, and it's only $1.64 at Walmart.

I donated blood at LifeSouth a few times about 20 years ago but jumped on the Florida Blood Center's bandwagon. They merged with another blood mobile company and became One Blood.

I've been donating almost every month for the past couple of years. Usually about an hour's worth of platelets, relaxing on a recliner and reading a book on my cell phone and eating Lorna Doones. You're allowed to donate every 2 weeks, but I always have to wait for my hemoglobin to return to normal since I'm anemic (I take iron tablets every other day), so I spread my donations further apart.

Let's not forget that Publix employees blow dry the shopping carts when they get wet by rain.

One Blood had various platelet donors who came around the same time of the month as I do give or take a day. I would often see the same faces every so months. And the same workers were there for a long time but a few retired. I am almost up to 42 gallons of blood donated. I did not donate much before 1997. Once in Belmont, CA around 1985 and again around 1989 in Minneapolis, MN.


I have donated a few times at One Blood mobiles in the parking lots of Walmart, Winn-Dixie, CVS, Publix and other places.


My last donation at the Waterfront Inn went bust as the phlebotomist went for a vein that has little scar tissue around it. But that was for the reason that it is a very complicated vein and most of the people who have tried to usually muck it up.

Had a similar experience some years back when donating blood. The phlebotomist after several pokes couldn't locate a vein so I suggested she try my other side. Same deal. I must have been in a very good mood that day, telling her that it was OK: that everybody has bad days.

She broke down in tears, saying "but today is my FIRST DAY"

One of the worst stickers (phlebotomists) I had became one of the best in time. Miss seeing her at One Blood but I did drop her a hello on Facebook every so often. Saw her around for maybe a decade.

So many great choices? In the Spanish Springs area our choices are Aldi(reasonable but few choices) Publix and Walmart. Basically for a full service grocery two choices(Winn DIxie will be gone soon)