We have some very nice grocery stores in Charlottesville – Harris Teeter, Kroger’s, Giant, Food Lion, Whole Foods, Wegmans and Wal-Mart, but we are missing one: Publix, and I wish we had one.
Anytime I’m out of town, I’ll find the closest grocery store. If I’m not in a grocery store at least every other day fondling the cantaloupes and checking out the T-bone steaks, I sink into a deep funk. Last week while we were in Myrtle Beach, I had a few cooking chores and discovered the closest grocer, Publix. I was most impressed.
First of all, the employees were all very polite and helpful – genuinely helpful. As I was walking up and down aisles, clearly disoriented, many of would stop what they were doing and offer help. It was a large store and I asked several times and they took me to the right section. They also are very well priced on their Publix private brands. I was most impressed with their frozen vegetables in their brand. Their meats and meat selections were good and they had a huge produce department. The store was bright and open and the aisles weren’t congested. If they had any take-out shopping going on – with big carts blocking the aisles – I wasn’t aware of any.
My son has a Publix in Atlanta and ordered their Fried Chicken, catered for a social occasion, and that chicken was outstanding. Not just good, outstanding.
Publix has been in business since 1930 and it’s currently the largest employee-owned grocery chain in the United States. Employee-owned? No wonder they have such good service.
I don’t know if Charlottesville could support another major grocery store, but if Publix came to town, I would be a regular customer.
