I will be discussing Publix, the popular supermarket with a unique operation.
In Florida, I don’t have to search far before I find a Publix.
Publix Super Markets is an employee-owned business.
It is the biggest supermarket chain in America, being owned by its employees.
The supermarket started its business in 1930.
The founder was George W Jenkins.
Its retail food supermarkets are all over Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and Virginia are1,288.
The founder’s grandson, Ed Crenshaw is the present chairman of the organization.
The supermarket produces its brand of bakery and deli products and supplies them to its affiliate stores.
Is Florida the only state with Publix
?
No, the supermarket can be found in several states in the U.
S.
The Name: Publix
Have you ever thought about Publix as a name, and where it originated from?
Many people have come to know the story behind that name.
George Jenkins once told the story himself in a speech, and it was later published as The Publix Story.
George Jenkins borrowed the name Publix from the theaters that were in
operation all over Florida
by then.
Many of these theaters have closed shop now.
I like how the name sounds, so I gave it to my shop.
No one is sure if stealing another company’s name can be tolerated by our present-day laws.
However, I did it then.
I have no regret about my choice because the business is currently doing well.
Is Florida the only state with Publix?
You will find Publix supermarkets everywhere in the Southeastern United States.
It has the following number of locations in the following states; Florida (838), Georgia (197), Alabama (83), South Carolina (65), Tennessee (53), North Carolina (51), and Virginia (19).
George Jenkins envisioned an organization where employees and customers will be treated like family members.
It was a leader’s slogan by then, but George Jenkins meant every bit of it.
Treating his customers and workers nicely is the secret behind his success.
Publix supermarkets have over 1,200 outlets in different places in America, and more are coming up by the day.
What Makes Publix Unique?
Publix supermarket is different in so many ways.
Everything they sell is what is being sold in any other grocery store such as produce, meat,
canned
goods, and so on.
George Jenkins knew that the customers could buy these items from another shop, so he came up with two strategies, quality, and service.
1.
Quality
Publix supermarket manufactures most of the products they sell, which other stores do not.
Other grocery stores buy their products from other suppliers.
For instance, they buy chips from Bob’s Potato Chips and put labels on them.
Contrary to this, Publix manufactures most of its products in their name.
By this, they have control over the quality of the products, not depending on other business ventures to do so for them.
If there should be anything Publix is to contract out, it must be to the best supplier.
Any supplier that falls below their standard cannot continue doing business with them.
Publix maintains quality as its watchword in all its store-made products.
For instance, most Floridians will confirm that Publix’s fried chicken is much better than fried chicken from other stores.
Fried chicken from Publix is far better than fried chicken from chain restaurants specializing in dishes.
It is the same thing with their deli foods, especially their subs.
Their subs are well known in Florida, because of their quality and test.
2.
Service
Their customer service is out of this world.
All their employee, from the bagger to the butcher are trained to give the highest standard of service to customers.
The staffers have the answer to every question you ask them or they know who to get the answer from.
The organization pays much premium to customers.
The difference in the quality of service given to customers by Publix staffers and the quality of services given to customers by other grocery stores is very obvious.
They will help you carry your bag to your car and get loaded.
You will get the job done by the workers in the deli or the bakery section, even if it means going the extra mile.
This is different from what obtains in a lot of other companies.
The largest
employee-owned company
in the world is Publix.
It earned this rank by a wide margin.
It has a total of 188,000 workers on its payroll.
This is higher than the number of people under the employment of the runner-up, which has 25,000 people on her payroll.
There is no evidence that another company will take this position away from Publix soon.
So what benefits do workers at an employee-owned company like Publix earn?
The biggest benefit is that the employee receives quarterly stock dividends for free.
They do not buy them.
As Publix makes record-breaking profits, the stock dividends get better.
.
The Founding Family
The founding family is worth billions
The Supermarkets are very smart in profit-making strategies.
Their total sales in 2016 were $34 billion, and a mind-blowing profit of $ 2.
03.
That was a 3.
1% increase in profit from the previous year.
In that year, the employees got four times the stock payout.
The George Jenkins family has become billionaires often, courtesy of Publix Supermarkets.
The founders’ daughter Carol Jenkins Barnett’s present worth is over $1.
7 billion.
Her brother, Howard M.
Jenkins, is worth a billion as well.
The family is not even holding the majority shares of the supermarket.
Their shareholding is only 20%, while the employees who are shareholders hold the remaining 80%.
This is evidence of the good performance of the company’s stock.
FAQs
Is there Publix outside of Florida?
Publix supermarket can be found in five states.
Namely, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina.
Which city has the most Publix?
There are 1,305
Publix supermarket
branches at different locations in Southeast.
There were 836 of them in Florida as of October 2022.
This represents 65.
8% of its total supermarket locations.
What does Publix stand for?
George Jenkins founded Publix supermarket in 1930 in Florida.
It is a Southern grocery chain that is proud that it is employee-owned.
It also prides itself on being the best place to shop.
Their slogan is even “Where shopping is a pleasure”.
This name marches its acceptance by the public as the public’s grocery store.