Old Florida: Those huge scales at Publix? They're disappearing and they won't be back
Another of those classic weight scales you used to find in almost every Publix is likely gone.
A Publix in Wellington is shutting its doors and will undergo a complete makeover. When the shiny new store opens, it likely won't have its big historic, industrial-looking scale at the front of the store.
That's because Publix is phasing them out after the scale's manufacturer stopped making them. And because the manufacturer no longer makes parts, any scale that needs repairs likely will go to the scrap heap. Older stores can keep the scales until they break down.
When the renovated Wellington Publix, at the Courtyard Shops at 13880 Wellington Trace, reopens in about two years, it isn't expected to include the scale.
More: Publix closes Wellington store with plans to demolish it, build bigger, sleeker supermarket
Newly opened Publix supermarkets in Royal Palm Beach and Westlake don't have them. Neither does one near Boynton Beach (at the Shoppes of Golf Village), which opened in 2021.
“The manufacturer ceased production in 2015, meaning that one day — although our wonderful repair shop keeps our remaining machines in great shape — the last Publix scale will retire,” said an Aug. 19, 2021, Facebook post from Publix.
The scales have been part of Publix's charm for over 80 years
The scales, shaped like “lollipops,” have been a Publix Super Markets fixture for about 83 years, the Facebook post explained. When they made their first appearance, initially at the back of the store and later by the front doors, household scales were bulky and too expensive for every household to own.
Most people were weighed at the doctor's office Florida, people went to Publix to check their weight. Over the years, the current scales are now four times bigger and costlier than their original counterparts.
More: Publix comes to Westlake, proof that new western city has 'arrived,' builder says
Ever the supermarket innovator, Publix founder George Jenkins saw the scarcity of weighing machines as an opportunity to bring in customers, according to The Lakeland Ledger. Publix's headquarters are based in Lakeland.
On its blog, The Publix Checkout, a further history of the green scales was posted in 2016.
When Jenkins “founded Publix in 1930, he embarked on setting Publix apart from the competition by offering services and value to customers in things not seen around other grocery chains like his ‘food palace’ in 1940 equipped with air conditioning, frozen food cases and many other innovations,” wrote blogger Aijana W.
“However, there’s one perk about shopping in Publix that’s been a part of the company since the beginning and still remains to this day: the weighing scales. The difference with Publix scales? It was completely free for our customers,” the blogger wrote.
More: Publix opens rebuilt Royal Palm Beach supermarket; store was scene of fatal shootings
In a 1988 interview with Jenkins, the company founder said the scales “were very popular. Even back then people were conscious of their weight.” He added that more than 5 million customers weighed themselves in Publix’s during the first year of business.
And it’s not just Publix writers who have been pushing the lore of the 2831 People Weigher by Mettler Toledo, which still manufactures other weighing systems for laboratories, industry and food retailers.
The scales will be around for a while at many Publix stores
The ritual of tipping the big green scale should remain a tradition for many Publix shoppers for some time throughout Florida. In its seven-state operating area, Publix has 1,380 stores, but only Florida has had the scales. As of June, the Sunshine State has 874 Publix stores. It's not known how many still have the weighing machines.
Even if many of them become unrepairable, the scale from the original Winter Haven store is kept at the corporate headquarters in Lakeland in a historic display.
Publix representative Brian West said a few years ago: "For the foreseeable future, they will remain part of our Florida stores."
Until they all disappear except for the original one, Publix did stockpile enough parts to keep the old ones on life support as long as possible.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Publix weight scales becoming a thing of the past in Florida
