Photo Courtesy Of Publix
If it seems like Publix has been with us for a lifetime, that’s because it has. It was 95 years ago that the iconic grocery store chain got its start in Florida.
George Jenkins opened the first Publix Food Store in Winter Haven, Florida, on Sept. 6, 1930. He learned the business from the bottom up, starting at the age of 17 when he took a job as a stock clerk in a Piggly Wiggly grocery store in 1925. A couple of months later Jenkins was promoted to manage that chain’s largest store in Winter Haven.
By 1935, Jenkins had opened a second store, and in 1940, he mortgaged an orange grove to put a down payment on his dream store, the first Publix Super Market. Five years later, he purchased a warehouse and 19 All American stores from the Lakeland Grocery Company and began replacing them with larger supermarkets.
Over the years, Publix expanded its offering, adding delis, pharmacies and even cooking schools. While Florida has the most stores in the country, Publix can also be found in Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Today, Publix is the largest employee-owned company in the United States, with current and former employees owning about 80% of the company, while the Jenkins family owns the rest.
The first store still stands in Winter Haven and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
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