Publix Super Markets, Inc. (commonly known as Publix) is an American supermarket chain based in Lakeland, Florida. Founded in 1930 by George W. Jenkins, it is an employee-owned, privately held corporation and was ranked No. 4 on Forbes' 2006 list of "America's Largest Private Companies." The company's 2007 sales totaled US$23 billion, with profits of over $1 billion, ranking #107 on Fortune magazine's Fortune 500 list of U.S. companies in 2007. Supermarket News ranked Publix No. 8 in the 2007 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2006 fiscal year sales. Based on 2006 revenue, Publix is the fifteenth-largest retailer in the United States. Publix's slogan is "Where Shopping is a Pleasure".

Publix has operations in five states: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama. It employs over 140,000 people at its 948 retail locations, corporate offices, eight grocery distribution centers, and nine Publix brand manufacturing facilities which produce its dairy, deli, bakery, and other food products.Publix Facts and Figures, Publix, Retrieved August 30th, 2008 In addition, Publix owns "Crispers", a chain of restaurants in Florida specializing in salads; some Crispers locations are adjacent or built into the already existing deli department in select Publix Super Markets.

Publix's main competitors are Albertsons, Aldi, BI-LO, Bravo, Bloom, Bruno's, Dollar General, Food Lion, Food World, Fresh Market, Goodings, Harris Teeter, IGA, Ingles, Kroger, Kmart, Piggly Wiggly, Reids, Save-A-Lot, Sweetbay, Target, Trader Joe's, U-Save, Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, and Winn-Dixie.

History

George W. Jenkins opened the first Publix market in Winter Haven, Florida, in 1930. In 1934, his single store made $120,000 in sales. In 1935, he opened a second market, the Economy Food Store, in Winter Haven. Despite the Great Depression, his stores were financially successful.

In 1940, Jenkins, affectionately called "Mr. George" by his employees, mortgaged an orange grove to build Florida's first supermarket. His "food palace" had piped-in music, air conditioning, cold cases for frozen and refrigerated items, in-store donut and flower shops, and electric-eye automatic doors. The supermarket became very popular among shoppers, but World War II materials shortages prevented him from building more for a few years. In 1945, Jenkins purchased the 19-store All American chain of food stores and converted them into Publix Super Markets.

In 1951, Publix moved its headquarters to Lakeland, Florida, and built its first distribution warehouse there. At the same time, it began to close the old All American stores and replace them with new stores. In 1956, for the first time, Publix crossed $50 million in sales and $1 million in profit. In 1957, the donut shop in each store was expanded into a full-service bakery.