While many shoppers in Florida and across the Southeast have known about Publix Supermarkets for decades, the company is getting national attention after being tying for the spot of America’s favorite grocery store.
A survey of over 12,700 shoppers by Market Force Information put Publix, founded in 1930 in Lakeland, in a statistical tie with Wegmans – a supermarket chain based in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
Publix – which had been the runner-up to Wegmans each of the last four years - finished in the top spot in several categories, including fast checkouts, availability and ease of finding items and cleanliness. Both stores scored a 77 percent on the survey’s loyalty index, ahead of Trader Joe’s, H-E-B and Aldi in the top five.
Currently, Publix is the largest employee owned supermarket in America – posting sales of $34 billion and employing nearly 190,000 people in almost 1,150 stores across six states.
