Publix making first push into Greater Washington

[finehoe]

Publix, a Florida-based grocer with a cult-like following in the south, has hired a local broker and appears to ready to enter the D.C. market.

The company had a booth at the International Council of Shopping Centers' Mid-Atlantic Dealmaking and Conference event last week at National Harbor. It was the first time Publix has had a presence at the event, which connects landlords with potential retailers.

Publix spokeswoman Kim Reynolds confirmed the chain is looking to open stores throughout Virginia, including in Northern Virginia, although she said could not speak to the District or other parts of the Washington region specifically.

The company's presence at the expo created quite a buzz, with attendees saying its booth was mobbed for much of the day. Publix held several meetings with brokers and other conference goers.

Virginia is the first new state Publix has entered in four years. The chain currently has more than 1,100 stores in six states.

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/top-shelf/2016/03/publix-making-first-push-into-greater-washington.html

[Wacca Pilatka]

They are opening a store in Richmond in 2018, and expanding into western Virginia.  Desperately want them to come to Tidewater, which is sorely lacking in quality grocers that don't charge super-premium prices.

[pierre]

I was in south Charlotte last week for business. Not joking when I say the number one thing people told me when they found out I was from Florida was how much they love Publix.

They have a pretty nice presence up there. Not surprised they will continue moving north.

[Wacca Pilatka]

I was in south Charlotte last week for business. Not joking when I say the number one thing people told me when they found out I was from Florida was how much they love Publix.

They have a pretty nice presence up there. Not surprised they will continue moving north.

Harris Teeter always was the dominant store in the Charlotte market, but their price points seem ridiculously high compared to Publix's (not to mention spottier customer service and what I find to be a truly bizarre cash register setup).  I can easily imagine Publix breaking HT's grip over Charlotte, much as it easily drove out HT's attempt to expand into Jacksonville years ago...and much as I dream of Publix coming to Tidewater as tax season forces me to get gouged at the HT next to my office.

[I-10east]

^^^I agree with Harris Teeter being high. It's the most outrageously priced supermarket that I've been to.

[Wacca Pilatka]

^^^I agree with Harris Teeter being high. It's the most outrageously priced supermarket that I've been to.

I'm glad it's not just me...Publix isn't cheap by any means, but with its friendliness, cleanliness, unique in-store items, and overall quality, I don't feel like I'm getting burned.  Nor at other nice stores like Wegman's or Martin's.  Nor at someplace that's SUPPOSED to be premium like Fresh Market, where I can find items I can't find anywhere else.

At HT a non-organic orange bell pepper (one of my primary sources of fuel) is something like $2.85, a box of cereal or package of salad is similarly ridiculous, the checkouts are always shortstaffed in addition to their poor design, and I'm stuck shopping there since I work an 8-11 7-day schedule this time of year and it's next door to my office.  I'm left to murmur out loud as I wander through the store about how I desperately hope for Publix to turn its eye eastward from Richmond and end HT's reign of terror.

[RattlerGator]

I love how personal people can get over supermarkets. I mean, "end HT's reign of terror" made me laugh in a good kind of way. I'll never forget when Publix first came to Orange Park when I was a kid. We were Winn-Dixie baby, Winn-Dixie / Winn-Dixie / Winn-Dixie !!! And then I stepped foot inside Publix.

Oh, sheeeeee-it!

It was an instant conversion. Then it became, and has remained, a Florida thing for me. Given their expansion, I guess it has now become a Southern thing. Time to conquer the UpSouth, Publix! On to D.C. and Baltimore!

[Wacca Pilatka]

You really can't fully appreciate the value of a Publix (or a similarly nice store) until you've lived in an area without one.  Here in Tidewater we just have no equivalent that hits that sweet spot of convenience, quality, relative value, and service that Publix provides, and I'm left grumpy until I can get back to Duval in the fall and get my Publix fix.  Particularly in tax season when my only choice is Harris Teeter, the grocer of doom.

Martin's (formerly Ukrop's), from the Richmond area, is a fine store with similar qualities to Publix, but only exists on the far western fringe of Tidewater (northwest of Williamsburg).  I used to work by one, but no longer do, and I live 40 minutes or so from the closest store. 

We have Kroger, which is pretty nice and not overpriced, but has a baffling layout.  It's hard to appreciate how nice it is to have a store where everything is logically located until you've gone someplace like our byzantine maze of a Kroger.  It also inexplicably carries a very limited selection of pasta.

I actually end up shopping at Food Lion a lot of the time, simply because their produce is decent and not overpriced, but their selection is lacking.  It's almost impossible to get credible iced tea at our Food Lion.  This affects me profoundly.

The leading grocer in the area is local chain Farm Fresh, which is decent enough, but charges premium store prices for packaged goods even though it's not a premium store.  They also have a glaring lack of prepared foods, which I consider a prerequisite for a store that's going to try to hit you for premium prices.  Farm Fresh also thinks it's fun to randomly rearrange all the aisles in the store every six months so you can never get used to the layout and quickly run in and out for a handful of targeted items.

Of course we have Wal-Mart, which now seems to acquire its produce from Antarctica and has approximately two checkouts open per 46,235 customers; and Fresh Market and Whole Foods for specialties.  But no mainline grocer that satisfies.

And then there's HT, where I have to take out an SBA loan to buy a bell pepper.