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Good bye Publix, Hello Kroger

Piggly Wiggly Life!!!
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As a LR resident for many, many years, I am not afraid to disclose that i love shopping at Walmart. I just try to avoid peak times. Yes, the clientele leaves something to be desired but this girl loves to save some money.

Side note: I only buy produce at Publix.
Jacksonville people will know what I'm talking about, but there's a shopping center that was built in a landlocked area between the interstate and a train track where the developer had to demolish a Japanese restaurant, build an overpass, rebuild the restaurant and then proceed to put in a walmart, hhgregg, etc.

anyhow, we call that the "secret" Walmart because it's so "hard" to get to. It's usually a lot less crowded than most. practically zero foot traffic.
 
HEB is killing Kroger around here.

Kroger is closer (for now) and I will go in a pinch but when we go shopping for the week it's HEB.

The new HEB is set to open in Fall '19.
 
Meh, I find I end up going to both grocery stores here, Kroger and Tom Thumb, to get everything I want. Sometimes Kroger's produce is better and sometimes Tom Thumb is better. Our Kroger does have a Sushi Chef making sushi like the upscale Central Market here does.
I don't find their selection any better than other supermarkets.
Miss Tom Thumb and Central Market!
 
Here's a container of ice cream my wife picked up from our local Kroger last week. Last. Week.




39569894_10155465606905614_795126101507571712_n.jpg

Ehh, it happens..
I ran into a Walmart a couple months ago to buy hamburger buns. Get to the register and the cashier was like, uh, you might want to get a different package. She turned them over and those suckers were solid blue.
 
Once you get burned with out-of-date stock you learn to look closer at these kind of things. Only Kroger and Wally World up here in WV and the Kroger is the least desiresble of the two.
 
The “normal” grocery store in Westwood next to UCLA is a Kroger-owned Ralphs Fresh Fare as are the two “normal” grocery stores in my neighborhood. They are definitely nice stores, and I do appreciate that they have the bars and coffee shops in the stores.
 
As a LR resident for many, many years, I am not afraid to disclose that i love shopping at Walmart. I just try to avoid peak times. Yes, the clientele leaves something to be desired but this girl loves to save some money.

Side note: I only buy produce at Publix.
Jacksonville people will know what I'm talking about, but there's a shopping center that was built in a landlocked area between the interstate and a train track where the developer had to demolish a Japanese restaurant, build an overpass, rebuild the restaurant and then proceed to put in a walmart, hhgregg, etc.

anyhow, we call that the "secret" Walmart because it's so "hard" to get to. It's usually a lot less crowded than most. practically zero foot traffic.

That Walmart at the Avenues is also a lot more clean than their other stores.
 
Here's a container of ice cream my wife picked up from our local Kroger last week. Last. Week.

39569894_10155465606905614_795126101507571712_n.jpg
Would have saved her a bunch of angst if she checked that date before she purchased and brought home to then go nuclear on the Facebook.
 
Yes, they're owned by Safeway. Their sister stores in Austin and Houston are called Randall's.

Wish we had an HEB out here. Hands down a better store than Publix.

HEB is very connected to the community and Texas. What they did to prepare for Hurricane Ike and Harvey was incredible
 
The Kroger parking lot I drove through last week in Marmet, WV might have been the second saddest looking place Ive ever seen, the 1st was Nola after Katrina.
 
Yes, they're owned by Safeway. Their sister stores in Austin and Houston are called Randall's.

Wish we had an HEB out here. Hands down a better store than Publix.
We stopped at a HEB last summer while driving between Fredericksburg and San Antonio. Place was amazing.

Also stopped at a Buc-ee's. Biggest convenience store ever.
 
Publix has gone downhill. Their produce is absolute garbage. The deli section customer service isn’t good and dare I say the subs are just meh now. I’ve been seeing it at multiple Publix in the area. I’ll welcome a new chain opening up down here.
 
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Publix has gone downhill. Their produce is absolute garbage. The deli section customer service isn’t good and dare I say the subs are just meh now. I’ve been seeing it at multiple Publix in the area. I’ll welcome a new chain opening up down here.
As said earlier, I used to work for Publix. The brand was built under the auspices/blood, sweat, and tears of the great founder, George Jenkins. After he died in '96, there's been a slow steady decline in this privately-owned company as his kids and their spouses have (what I call) "Walmartized" in an attempt to wring out every last red cent for the shareholders.

Mr. Jenkins' core values of pleasing customers and treating associates with dignity are just about all but forgotten now not even a quarter of a century after his passing. This lessened quality of individual stores accurately reflects this erosion.
 
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Publix has gone downhill. Their produce is absolute garbage

I've noticed their produce is not as good as it used to be. That used to be what they were known for. Now I can find better, not to mention cheaper, produce at Luckys, Freshfield Farms and farmers markets. Publix has gotten away with low to no competition in the Florida market for years. Now they're being squeezed by niche retailers offering good quality at lower prices.

An Earth Fare is slated to open right near my house, across the road from Publix. Interested to see how it affects Publix.
 
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I think Publix has gone a bit downhill over the last decade. Kroger has gotten better in Atlanta, to the point where many of the stores are just as good (or better) than Publix. Aldi is not a great shopping experience, but they do have some good individual items and good prices. I rarely shop there. Ingles is like a hybridization of IGA and Winn Dixie.......that's not a good thing. A slightly classier Food Depot, if you will. If you want your meat graded below Choice, Food Depot is where you need to shop.
 
Back at Kroger...their beer selection is amazing, but it’s even more amazing how they attract the weirdest of people.

Publix is literally across the street, and not once have I EVER seen people shopping there like I’m seeing here...I don’t understand!?!?!?
 
As said earlier, I used to work for Publix. The brand was built under the auspices/blood, sweat, and tears of the great founder, George Jenkins. After he died in '96, there's been a slow steady decline in this privately-owned company as his kids and their spouses have (what I call) "Walmartized" in an attempt to wring out every last red cent for the shareholders.

Mr. Jenkins' core values of pleasing customers and treating associates with dignity are just about all but forgotten now not even a quarter of a century after his passing. This lessened quality of individual stores accurately reflects this erosion.
I worked at the big store at the Northwood Mall off of Tharpe Street while in high school and for a year or so later. That place was cranking with bizness and the only one in our end of the state, much less Tally.
Standards were pretty high there, even tho me and the other bozos working the front end were pretty laizze faire in our actions. It was the place where all of the hotties in town shopped, so eyes were wide open...
Back then, produce was excellent, and the beer/wine selection was as good as any around.
For a long time, Publix was rated way up as a top company to work for, all things considered.
 
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