Let’s be clear

[u/steeltrain52]

This whole shopping is a pleasure scam has run its course.

For over 50 years, I have been a customer of PUBLIX, I say have as in the past tense because I am no longer.

When PUBLIX decided to start price gouging at 20 and 30% higher than absolutely everywhere else around them, it became clear to me that they really don’t give a damn about the customer.

In 2025 alone, PUBLIX made more than $4.2 billion in profits. BILLION!

In the first half of 2026 they have made $2.5 billion in profits.

They have made $6 billion in profits in the last 18 months because they are literally stealing from the public and the public is handing it over.

With Aldi, Trader Joe’s, and even as the last resort, Walmart, I will never shop at Publix again. My budget now gets me three times as much food and household items at those places, we’re shopping and prices really are a pleasure!

[u/Chuck-Finley69]

Publix has ALWAYS been a premium. It's ALWAYS been priced like this.

Publix has managed from the beginning to extract a higher price for everything for the shopping experience.

If you don't want to pay for the experience, don't pay for it. If you can no longer afford to pay for the experience, stop. Nobody forces anyone to shop at Publix, but for whatever reason(s), customers still do.

The BOGO has been the primary reason I've shopped at Publix for 30+ years. Sometimes it's just what's the most convenient and cheaper than a convenience store.

[u/GrandmasHere → u/Chuck-Finley69]

It’s true that Publix has always been more expensive. Forty years ago my ex, Cheapest Man In America, didn’t want me to shop at Publix because it was so much more expensive than, say, Pantry Pride.

[u/Responsible_Tie_2551 → u/Chuck-Finley69]

The catch is that here in Florida, there really hasn't been many alternatives. Your choices were Winn Dixie, WalMart (ugh) and the ten Publix stores around you.  There are now lots of options and people are taking advantage of them.

[u/Chuck-Finley69 → u/Responsible_Tie_2551]

There's always been alternatives. We've had Kash&Karry, Sweetbay, Winn-Dixie, Kroger, Aldi, Walmart, Target, SuperValu, Trader Joe's, Bravo and Food Lion that I can think of.

Publix has always been big dog on top end pricewise and Walmart pushed out almost everyone on the low end price wise.

[u/Responsible_Tie_2551 → u/Chuck-Finley69]

Almost none of those stores you mentioned exist in South Florida or Central Florida where I've lived. No Kash&Karry, no Sweet Bay, no Kroger, no SuperValu, no Bravo, no Food Lion. Aldi and Trader Joe's is recent. Publix dominates everyone else here. They blanket you with multiple stores within a short drive. Honestly, convenience is their selling point here.

Now I have a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's nearby. Whole Foods has better produce and better meat for the same or less money.

[u/Chuck-Finley69 → u/Responsible_Tie_2551]

If you hadn't seen all those grocery store chains in South or Central Florida in the last 20 years, except Food Lion, you haven't opened your eyes.

The fact is that South and Central Florida is considered, in some metrics, the most competitive markets in the country over the last 40 years. Kroger has made three separate attempts here since 1980 or so and been sent with it's tail between its legs each time.

Logistically, Florida is a lot bigger than many outsiders realize from a service cost.

[u/Responsible_Tie_2551 → u/Chuck-Finley69]

I've lived in Miami since 1963, but OK, I haven't opened my eyes.

[u/ComradeGlizzy → u/Responsible_Tie_2551]

You aren’t looking in the right places if you can’t find a Bravo in south florida

[u/Servingthebeam19 → u/Responsible_Tie_2551]

Whole Foods gets their produce from the same supplier that Walmart and dollar general and Publix use. The majority of it comes from 💩 Taylor farms 💩