Publix in Mississippi

Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. No non-grocery posts.
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Re: Publix in Mississippi

Post by Knight »

pseudo3d wrote: The larger store sizes of Albertsons compounded the problem but that wasn't the main problem, especially considering the size was relatively comparable to other competitors (they were usually 50k-60k square feet), and square footage isn't an issue unless land is at a premium. The thing that drives up costs is full service departments, which aren't going to be removed for a market entry--at that rate, why would anyone go to Publix? If Mississippi is such a great market, then they would've entered it years ago. They entered Alabama in 1996, and since then they've entered Tennessee in 2002 and North Carolina in 2014, already having gotten SC and GA before. A "successful" MS entry means placing a few south of the Memphis area, but not Gulfport, Hattiesburg, and Jackson.
Publix has not entered Mississippi yet because it has not had a distribution center close enough to support stores and an adequate transportation network to strategically access additional stores in new markets. Both reasons have been address. I am hearing Publix is proceeding to expand the McCalla, Alabama, distribution center with more warehouses.
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Re: Publix in Mississippi

Post by Knight »

pseudo3d wrote:Competition would be nice, of course, but if that was true, why has Winn-Dixie performed so badly there, even historically, that they wanted to take Jitney Jungle to prop them up, and that failed? Even three years after bankruptcy (2008), Winn-Dixie had just 15 stores in Mississippi (link).
That list is from 2008. I would like to note Winn-Dixie's regions at the time: Jacksonville (Alabama, Florida, Georgia), Miami (Florida), New Orleans (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi), and Orlando (Florida). The Montgomery Division operations were split into and absorbed by the Jacksonville and New Orleans regions. The distribution center remained in operation.
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Re: Publix in Mississippi

Post by pseudo3d »

Knight wrote:
pseudo3d wrote:Competition would be nice, of course, but if that was true, why has Winn-Dixie performed so badly there, even historically, that they wanted to take Jitney Jungle to prop them up, and that failed? Even three years after bankruptcy (2008), Winn-Dixie had just 15 stores in Mississippi (link).
That list is from 2008. I would like to note Winn-Dixie's regions at the time: Jacksonville (Alabama, Florida, Georgia), Miami (Florida), New Orleans (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi), and Orlando (Florida). The Montgomery Division operations were split into and absorbed by the Jacksonville and New Orleans regions. The distribution center remained in operation.
I am well aware that list is from 2008. I said so. My point was that in an area devoid of competition, even Winn-Dixie has had trouble staying there (until very recently, Kmart still tended to thrive in areas with less competition, for comparison)
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Re: Publix in Mississippi

Post by Knight »

Winn-Dixie's issues staying afloat were mostly Winn-Dixie being Winn-Dixie, decaying when Walmart Supercenter hypermarkets have been opening and outperforming shoddy supermarkets.
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Re: Publix in Mississippi

Post by J_F_Richey »

Someone else may have mentioned this, but from what I've read, neither Publix nor COSTCO will come to Mississippi because the state refuses to allow grocers to sell wine in their stores. No problem with beer, but wine, no. It's ridiculous. This is from our local newspaper, The Sun Herald. I don't know if there are other reasons. I live on the coast, and we have enough population to support either store, I believe.
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Re: Publix in Mississippi

Post by buckguy »

Costco has entered markets where it can't sell wine--Montgomery County, Maryland, for example, but it had the density and customer base that fit their model. I wouldn't be surprised if Publix has stores in dry counties. The main reason they don't have stores in Mississippi is probably the lack of a Memphis presence, the economics of many places, and the lack of potential acquisitions. If Publix expands further in the near future, Memphis is a possibility, but I could see them doing more to fill-in their operations in the Carolinas and Virginia,. than going further West.
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Re: Publix in Mississippi

Post by architect »

buckguy wrote: March 18th, 2018, 8:46 pm Costco has entered markets where it can't sell wine--Montgomery County, Maryland, for example, but it had the density and customer base that fit their model. I wouldn't be surprised if Publix has stores in dry counties. The main reason they don't have stores in Mississippi is probably the lack of a Memphis presence, the economics of many places, and the lack of potential acquisitions. If Publix expands further in the near future, Memphis is a possibility, but I could see them doing more to fill-in their operations in the Carolinas and Virginia,. than going further West.
Honestly, I don't expect to see Publix heading west anytime soon unless a competitive situation dramatically changes which opens a door to entry for them. Like many have said previously, the socioeconomic struggles throughout most of Mississippi would not be conducive to growing an upscale-leaning chain since as Publix. If Publix were to essentially skip over Mississippi and enter into Louisiana, they would encounter deep local competition in southern part of the state in Rouses. As you move further west into Texas, then you get into deep HEB/Kroger territory (particularly in Houston), which is a battle than Publix will likely not want to fight unless if one of the major players massively slips and losses market share (aka, Randalls in the 2000's). The only potential opportunity I could see for Publix west of their current store base would be acquiring Brookshires, though many of these stores might likely be in too small of markets for Publix to take such a chance. At this point, Publix still has their sights set north, and they need to be able to focus their energy on solidifying their North Carolina/Virginia presence while also preparing for a potential move into the DC area if they choose to do so. To expand west (outside of potentially Memphis in selected upscale areas) would be a huge mistake.

The best situation for Publix right now would be a weakened Kroger, as almost all of the markets which they are entering into/bordering on right now have Kroger as a substantial player (Memphis, Northern NC, Virginia, MS/LA/TX).
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Re: Publix in Mississippi

Post by pseudo3d »

architect wrote: March 19th, 2018, 8:19 pm
buckguy wrote: March 18th, 2018, 8:46 pm Costco has entered markets where it can't sell wine--Montgomery County, Maryland, for example, but it had the density and customer base that fit their model. I wouldn't be surprised if Publix has stores in dry counties. The main reason they don't have stores in Mississippi is probably the lack of a Memphis presence, the economics of many places, and the lack of potential acquisitions. If Publix expands further in the near future, Memphis is a possibility, but I could see them doing more to fill-in their operations in the Carolinas and Virginia,. than going further West.
Honestly, I don't expect to see Publix heading west anytime soon unless a competitive situation dramatically changes which opens a door to entry for them. Like many have said previously, the socioeconomic struggles throughout most of Mississippi would not be conducive to growing an upscale-leaning chain since as Publix. If Publix were to essentially skip over Mississippi and enter into Louisiana, they would encounter deep local competition in southern part of the state in Rouses. As you move further west into Texas, then you get into deep HEB/Kroger territory (particularly in Houston), which is a battle than Publix will likely not want to fight unless if one of the major players massively slips and losses market share (aka, Randalls in the 2000's). The only potential opportunity I could see for Publix west of their current store base would be acquiring Brookshires, though many of these stores might likely be in too small of markets for Publix to take such a chance. At this point, Publix still has their sights set north, and they need to be able to focus their energy on solidifying their North Carolina/Virginia presence while also preparing for a potential move into the DC area if they choose to do so. To expand west (outside of potentially Memphis in selected upscale areas) would be a huge mistake.

The best situation for Publix right now would be a weakened Kroger, as almost all of the markets which they are entering into/bordering on right now have Kroger as a substantial player (Memphis, Northern NC, Virginia, MS/LA/TX).
I think Publix is finally letting off the acceleration pedal in terms of new stores, considering Farm Fresh's meltdown with no Publix in sight. Maybe Virginia hasn't done as well as expected, maybe they're just re-adjusting to the economic realities of less new stores. And competition is pretty fierce west of Mississippi. If Albertsons sold what was left of the Houston Division to Publix (sans the Austin stores), it would still put Publix at a disadvantage as far as Houston goes. The renovated Randalls stores would be the right size for Publix and be fantastic stores (my cousin, who has Randalls as his closest store and loves Publix, would probably switch to it exclusively) it would have a small market share and be up against Kroger and H-E-B instead of the non-competition in Florida, and they would have to execute things perfectly by not having a "gimmick" store that customers abandon (much like The Fresh Market and Rice Epicurean).
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Re: Publix in Mississippi

Post by Knight »

J_F_Richey wrote: March 18th, 2018, 3:59 pm Someone else may have mentioned this, but from what I've read, neither Publix nor COSTCO will come to Mississippi because the state refuses to allow grocers to sell wine in their stores. No problem with beer, but wine, no. It's ridiculous. This is from our local newspaper, The Sun Herald. I don't know if there are other reasons. I live on the coast, and we have enough population to support either store, I believe.
Winn-Dixie does have liquor stores in Mississippi. Publix should be able to open Publix Liquors stores in Mississippi.
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Re: Publix in Mississippi

Post by Knight »

pseudo3d wrote: March 19th, 2018, 8:31 pmHI think Publix is finally letting off the acceleration pedal in terms of new stores, considering Farm Fresh's meltdown with no Publix in sight. Maybe Virginia hasn't done as well as expected, maybe they're just re-adjusting to the economic realities of less new stores. And competition is pretty fierce west of Mississippi. If Albertsons sold what was left of the Houston Division to Publix (sans the Austin stores), it would still put Publix at a disadvantage as far as Houston goes. The renovated Randalls stores would be the right size for Publix and be fantastic stores (my cousin, who has Randalls as his closest store and loves Publix, would probably switch to it exclusively) it would have a small market share and be up against Kroger and H-E-B instead of the non-competition in Florida, and they would have to execute things perfectly by not having a "gimmick" store that customers abandon (much like The Fresh Market and Rice Epicurean).
Publix's Virginia stores are doing well. Its planned entry into the Hampton Roads area had The Kroger Company acquire eighteen Farm Fresh stores in order to have Publix construct new stores.
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