Happy 92nd birthday, Publix
Tuesday, Publix is celebrating 92 years since George Jenkins first opened its doors on Sept. 6, 1930.
The first brick-and-mortar location was named Publix Food Store and was opened in Winter Haven, Florida. Today it is occupied by a restaurant called Tempo 1930.
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As explained by Publix through the decades, an official blog created by Publix:
In 1940, Mr. George expanded Publix Food Store into the super market of his dreams, located in Winter Haven, Florida. Publix Super Market was born and has continued growing ever since. His dream store followed an art deco design and was known as a “state-of-the-art food palace of marble, glass and stucco.” By the end of the decade, we had 20 locations.
In 1960, Publix reached the milestone of 100 stores and counting. The now famous delicatessen department and bakery were added during this time.
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The first pharmacy was implemented in 1986, and by the end of 1989, Publix had a total of 367 stores employing 62,000 associates.
The 75th anniversary was celebrated in 2005, and with it came the celebration of opening the 1,000th store in 2009 in St. Augustine, Florida.
In the nine decades since Mr. Jenkins opened the first grocery store Publix has expanded to more than 1,200 locations in seven states and employs more than 220,000 associates.
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Happy birthday, Publix. Here’s to many more decades of providing shoppers with the experience and food we all know and love (including the pub subs).
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