Publix to Open Seven Supermarkets in April

Publix Supermarkets continues to consolidate its presence in Florida with the opening of six new stores in April. It will open another store in Alabama at the end of the month.

In the past two months, the grocery store chain opened seven supermarkets in Florida, one in Tennessee and another in Georgia.

The company, founded in 1930 in Winter Haven, Florida, now has 859 supermarkets in the state, making it the largest grocery store chain in Florida.

In total, Publix operates 1,371 supermarkets in the states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South and North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, and has ten distribution centers and ten manufacturing plants. 

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Publix is also the largest U.S. company owned by the majority of its 255,000 employees.  

According to the financial publication Barron’s, Publix’s fourth-quarter financial results highlight its strength. It dominates the Florida grocery retail market and continues to set the industry’s financial tone, with triple the margins of Kroger and a strong balance sheet.

Publix is not publicly traded. Its stock is owned by employees, directors, and the Jenkins family, the company’s founder. The company’s market value is $50 billion, more than Kroger at $40 billion.

David Livingston, a retail consultant, told Barron’s that “Publix is like a freight train.  It doesn’t stop and will keep going no matter what.”

Publix Supermarkets Opening in April 2024