How on earth did that sign slip past some minimum wage worker who put that up?

/scarasm

Apparently they have a time machine too! Either the price was collected 2000 years ago, or they finally lose the price war on New Years, 10,000.

At least we don't have to worry about inflation.

But that was Winn-Dixie's price on 1/1/0000. Surely with 2000+ years of inflation Publix is still a better deal.

Birmingham represent!

Looks like a template or sample that accidentally slipped out.

Though I'm proud to say my wife and I shop both at Publix and Winn-Dixie, depending on specials. The latter are harder to find these days, but I have one near my office! BOGO chicken breast FTW (every other week!)

This does not make me hate Publix. They have great generic brands and are a good company to work for.

Hehe. Whoops.

I like Publix. It's a great example of a company whose good product, policies, and customer service make it worth shopping there even though the average price is a bit lower at other places.The locations in my town (Athens, GA) just seem cleaner than other grocery stores. The free coffee is nice too. And the Lunch Lady that makes sample meals, seemingly all the time.

Now, it's still possible to acquire a week and a half's worth of lunch materials for like twelve bucks, if you mostly buy store brand and don't insist on having meat on everything.

@serreca: Winn Dixie lets me take my dog into the store. And they usually do have better prices. But my bf's grandfather was a Publix manager for 29 years and they all looooove the store, so maybe it really is a nice place to work.

@opsomath: I recently shopped "non-sale" items at both stores back to back, and W-D was substantially higher (about 10%, which is a lot in grocery world). Everything from milk to meat to snack foods.

Shocking. Publix can be very economical, especially if you shop the sale items. Image is hard to overcome, apparently--Publix has the premium mindspace, so people automatically treat it as more expensive. I don't know how they do so well at everything they do.

Anyone know how close the Winn Dixie is to that Publix? (assuming the price is correct).

Let's assume that the reader drives a vehicle that gets 25 mpg, gas is $3.99 like it is in my area, and the Winn Dixie is more than 10 miles away. Not worth it. Most people will see the price comparison and still choose to buy the higher priced one based on convenience alone.

I'm assuming these two stores are East Coast or South? Sorry to the lameness. (California guy)

@n0ia: but usually companies only put "compare and save" type signs when they have the lower price. My guess is the just flopped the pricing when entering it on the computer.

@Rippleeffect: South. Birmingham, AL to be exact.

Publix here in Tennessee is about the only place I shop anymore. Kroger has become too ghetto and I REFUSE to shop at Walmart. Although, Target has opened a Super Target the next town over. Can't wait to check that one out.

The Publix price may be higher, but you get "higher quality and better service." It says so on the sign.

I thought Winn-Dixie was closed? I worked there as a teenager. They all changed to Brookshire's or were shuttered completely. Maybe that was only the locations in Texas.

@Oface: Used to shop at Kroger back in Ohio. Out here, its equivilent would be Ralphs I believe.
We've got:
Super Walmart
Super Target
Winco
Ralphs
Vons (used to be Luckys)
Food4Less
Stater Bros
Vallarta
Albertsons
Trader Joes

Any Local LA people see any I missed? These are just the ones I can think of in Lancaster/Palmdale area

@rippleeffect: stater brothers.

@n0ia: I'm not sure which Publix this is, but if it's the one on Valleydale Road (I'm assuming this b/c it says Valleydale Road in reference to Winn Dixie) there is a Winn Dixie literally across the street from it. I live in B'ham and have been to both stores quite a few times.

Never heard of Publix; just hearing the name actually made me think it was a cheaper grocery store for some reason (like an Aldi's). Here in Cleveland, it's mostly Giant Eagle or Heinen's.

Many Winn-Dixie stores in FL closed up in a 'cost-cutting' move.
Publix recently bought a couple dozen Albertsons (but not the one close to me) and are supposedly going to change them over to Publix.

Here in this part of FL, you can't swing a dead cat around without hitting one or two Publix stores.
But it's Where Shopping is a Pleasure!

Publix may be regional, but they've got something like 1,000 stores and have been around for about 100 years...

Publix is a Florida based chain that has expanded to most of the south. It really is a great, with decent prices. And they are consisently in the top companies to work for.

Several members of my family work or have worked at Publix over the years... my grandpa before his health forced him to retire for good, and my uncle is a store manager at one of their locations a couple hours south of Tampa. I live out of the area but every time I go down there we end up hitting Publix for something and I've never been disappointed with what I've seen.

ahh - but you see that price was collected on Jan. 1 in the year Jesus was born. With inflation it is most certainly higher!

@Oface:

Having a hard time finding articles to back this up, but as I understand it, Target and Walmart have very similar business practices. Within 6 months of the super Target opening up near my parents' house, the local grocery store went out of business.

Here's the only link I could find for now:

[www.boston.com]

@Rippleeffect: I don't know about the Palmadle/Lancaster area, but where I live (border of LA/Orange Co.) these new stores are popping up everywhere. They're called Fresh & Easy and I can't stop shoping there. Reasonable prices, but what really sraws me in is the customer service and cleanliness of the store. Plus the lighting is great: They all have huge windows and use very minimal artificial lighting, so the entire store's easy on the eyes.

@ltlbbynthn: I wouldn't shop at any food store that allows dogs in it. In my state, unless it's a certified aid animal (seeing eye dog, etc.), it's a health code violation to let any animal into a food selling or serving establishment.

@silencedotcom: Actually Publix pays it's employees pretty well. Even new hires usually make above minimum wage (at least that was the case when I worked there). And while I know you were just commenting on the state of low paid workers in general, Publix is better than most in that aspect.

Out of curiosity, what does Safeway become back East?

@Ash78: And very very delicious cake. A friend ordered her wedding cake from their bakery and it was one of the best I've ever had. The Publix I shopped at was about equal to the Harris Teeter, just a little bigger.

publix is awesome like that

Publix : Winn-Dixie :: Target : K-Mart

@Rippleeffect: You missed:
Pavilions
Costco
Smart & Final
Superior
Gonzalez Northgate
Ranch 99

There are some other smaller ones, but I can't remember their names.

@Stephen Colon: Fresh & Easy is a new brand launched by UK's TESCO, the world's third largest retail chain. TESCO has been expanding abroad rather aggressively because they already control 31% of the UK grocery market and really don't have much room to expand. From what I've read, TESCO did a huge amount of market research before launching Fresh & Easy and they have plans to become a major player in the US grocery market.

I used to shop at that Publix all the time when I lived 2 minutes down the road from it, and yes, the Winn-Dixie is fairly close. The Winn-Dixie, however, had worse deals overall, and the Publix brand foods are much better in taste. It's not worth saving the $1.21 to drive further to the other store for a pack of toilet paper.

It is a funny sign though. Sort of like ramen packs being 10 for a buck, but the 6 packs are $1.98.

@Rippleeffect: I think Lucky was bought out by Albertson's, IIRC.

And adding in:
Gelson's
Bristol Farms
Whole Paycheck-- uh, Whole Foods
Jon's
Food 4 Less

@aaron8301: That's ridiculous. Nobody ever rubs their pets on food being prepared. A grocery store is not a kitchen.

This doesn't surprise me. Publix is always higher in price than every one else.

@ltlbbynthn: Obviously you've never been to MY house, we rub pets on EVERY bit of food being prepared.

B-ham in the house.

New Publix opens up right across the street from my house this month, right next to a new Target.

Can't wait!

@aaron8301: I agree, I saw that and was disgusted. In Kansas pets aren't allowed in either.

@ltlbbynthn: Nobody said anything about pets being rubbed on the food. Pets continuously shed their coats and it can end up anywhere. And parts of a grocery store are like a kitchen, especially if they are a good one. There are usually deli's in there, a bakery, and a meat processing center, all of which food is prepared.

I for one would not like to pick up a pound of chicken or a bag of grapes and find a clump of dog hair in/on it. But that is just me.

As for the article, I would call it a mix-up and move on. It's not like the sign hurt anyone, if anything it might have helped if you were shopping for Unscented Super Absorbent Double Rolls and were strapped on cash and couldn't shell out the extra $1.20.

Atlanta local here. Publix is just my favorite supermarket to go to. It's clean, excellent quality, and nice customer service. Plus, their sandwich section is top notch. Both Boars Head and Publix meats are great.

That being said, that sign is pretty funny.

Tuscaloosa in the house! Our Publix doesn't invite us to shop elsewhere, for some reason or another...(?)

Sure, Winn-Dixie had cheaper TP on 01/01/0000, but what are they charging now?

Live (before stupid army happened) about five minutes from the Winn Dixie in question, surprised they're still around. The Publix just across the street had comparable prices for the most part and seemed just a bit nicer, if only by the reduction of crazy sounding folks being employed

not that anyone cares, but i was born in louisville, ky, raised in southeastern ky and have moved from southwestern va. to chicago to, currently, tampa bay. i've traded at a number of differnt food jobbers and will have to uniformly agree with most here...publix is the best. plain. everything. however, a fancy suburban jewel in, say, evanston (north of chicago), will leave you walking backwards. cool, clean, classy. everything you want and don't know you want (a fancy makeup counter!); yet. treasure island was another great chicago jem (not jewel). otherwise, the standby is always kroger. i was brought up fingering the cakes & cookies counter and i worked there in high school & college. my b/f worked there as well. it's just got this kinda spell on all those living near the big blue k-roger. food city (shitty?) was an appalachian/southeastern crap shack. i used those stores in ky & va. kroger tried in those parts to move in, but the fine folks at food city hollered real loud and greased their guns. kroger would never.

winn dixie though, well she stands in different class. the dixie, or twin pixie, or the shit dixie, as they are regularly referred to, was dark, very, very large and went on and on about their meats. my mom said they were "just too dark inside...i want to know what i'm buying..." and i came to agree. then they all closed. when they did, i owed them money from a check that hadn't cleared yet. bastards! if they were keeping better track of their money, they would have prevented the bank overdraft. but perhaps most importantly, they would have prevented BANKRUPTCY!

i could prbly go on, but i'll leave you with a few other fine or eff'd up grocery stores i've come to know over the years and my personal top ten:

Top 10 Grocery Stores in Chicago, Louisville, Lexington, Cincinnati, Southeastern KY/S.W. VA/N.E. TN, Charleston, and Tampa Bay:
10. Aldi
09. Target
08. Albertsons
07. Kash n' Karry (Now Sweetbay)
06. Costco
05. Harris Teeter
04. Jewel
03. Winn Dixie *tie with Piggly Wiggly
02. Kroger
01. Publix

*honorable, if not shitty, mentions: Save A Lot, Food City, Food Lion, Sam's Club, Wal Mart, IGA, Pic Pac, Cub Foods, A&P, and Dominick's

oh, and yeah, where i'm from, it's The Publix or The Kroger or The...you get the point.

now, "let's go krogering, krogering, krogering..."
-dick

I would kill to shop at a store named Winn-Dixie. And I don't think 10%is a lot more in grocery terms. Especially if they have free coffee.

Those of you who LOVE the great customer service at Pulix propabaly never heard of David Dean's experience with the human fingertip in his Publix ham. He had eaten almost the entire ham before finding the severed appendage in his sandwich. When he threatened a lawsuit, all Publix would offer him was

A GIFT CERTIFICATE FOR ANOTHER FREE HAM!!!! He hired a lawyer but Publix still wouldn't budge. He sued in 1997 and won a $13,000 settlement.

I had no idea there were so many Alabamians around here. The Winn Dixie here (just north of Bham) closed, likely due to competition from the Walmart Supercenter (and also, they were not getting better all the time.) The one in my hometown (Barbour County, AL) is still doing well, though.