This probably isn't news if you live nearby, and there have been rumblings about it for some time, but it will still probably raise some eyebrows in Charlotte: Publix is opening two supermarkets later this year near Charlotte.
They're not listed with opening dates on the chain's website. But the signage is up, and "late 2012" is being publicly proclaimed as Publix's time frame.
Both stores will be in South Carolina, one in York County and one in Lancaster County. As the Charlotte Business Journal previously reported, the Lancaster County store is set for the new Cross Creek shopping center.
Here's a picture from the York County site, at Gold Hill and Pleasant roads. (Thanks to my colleague Mark Price for the photo and the heads-up).
The stores will be Publix's furthest foray north. As you can see in this store locator, their closest stores to Charlotte and North Carolina previously were in Columbia, S.C. and Greenville, S.C. Publix hasn't said yet whether it will actually push into N.C., where it currently has no stores.
Compared to Harris Teeter, the locally-owned higher-end general grocery store, Publix is a behemoth. Harris Teeter operates 204 stores, while Publix has more than 1,000.
Publix stock isn't publicly traded, being held by employees, directors and other company insiders, but Publix reports its financial results regularly. For the first nine months of its fiscal 2011, Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix reported sales of $19.7 billion and profits of $1.1 billion. Harris Teeter, for its full fiscal 2011, reported sales of $4.3 billion and profits of $91. million.
Do you think Publix will cross the state line and jump directly on to Teeter's home turf? And do you think the Charlotte region's upscale grocery market can sustain Publix, other new entrant Whole Foods, Harris Teeter, Earthfare and more?
UPDATE - for more information on the Cross Creek Publix store in Lancaster County, check out the developer's website.
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82 comments:
I hope they move in here. I couldn't believe how expensive groceries were when I moved out here! My families from Southern CA & AZ just visited me & couldn't believe how much more we pay for the same items out here. Even when items are on sale, they are still way higher than out there.
Go back home then.
^ wow, great example of that good Christian Southern hospitality!
Some natives get tired of it when people move here and complain about everything. It happens a lot around here.
Not agreeing with this specific case, but just pointing out why someone may have said that.
Article said HT has 204 stores...neglected to mention that it seems like half of them are within a 10 mile radius of MY house...
I agree with the first comment. Harris Teeter is pretty much a monopoly in Charlotte. It would be great to see some fair competition to bring the prices down!
Southerners are polite but not nice. Northerners are nice but not polite. I'll take the latter. That's from a Southerner.
Harris Teeter is a monopoly in Charlotte? Let me guess it must be because they are based here. Next thing someone will tell us is that Bank of America is a monopoly in Charlotte.
Ingle's is home grown and entirely comparable to Publix. . .I've shopped 'em both!
Just one slight correction - there are 2 stores in Spartanburg, SC which is closer than Greenville. I had to move to SC to enjoy them. And unless the Ingles in Charlotte have improved dramatically since I lived there, the comparison is not even close. Sorry. The deli, bakery, produce sections are excellent and even wedding cakes are ordered here from publix.
How did this go from "Comments about a grcoery store" to an attack on where people are from?
Publix is a very nice grocery and it would be good to give Harris Teeter some competative competition. That can only help the consumer. And at the moment Food Lion isn't really cutting it in my opinion.
The one isn't going to put the other out of business.
People need to relax on here.
Thank goodness. HT is just way too pricey, Food Lion is mediocre at best. Bloom was at least a decent attempt to strike a middle ground but there must be too many people here in this area that prefer the sky high prices at HT.
Bring on Publix! One of the best grocery stores in the country, and I have to agree with a previous post, Food Lion is not cutting it!!!
Wegmans.
I'm surprised nobody mentions Lowes Foods. We LOVE the one we have in Harrisburg! Great produce, seafood and meat market and a very friendly staff.
We liked Publix when we lived in South Florida for 11 years and shopped there all the time. We felt prices were very reasonable... and that was after being used to shopping at the on-base Commissary while in the Air Force!
Publix is ok. Good deli and bakery and they are the only decent grocery stores in NE Florida. But I still miss my Harris Teeter. Much bigger product selection.
Ingles has improved dramatically, at least the ones in Shelby and Landrum, fyi, but the more competition the better!
I didn't particularly care for Publix when I lived in Atlanta but they were the lesser of all evils. When Harris Teeter was still in the Atlanta area, I went out of my way to find one. When Publix or someone else besides Food Lion comes to central Charlotte and gives HT some competition, maybe then I'll shop somewhere else.
John, I agree with you. I really like the Lowes foods in Harrisburg as well, but like Harris Teeter, they are pricey. Food Lion is typically less expensive but their produce leaves a lot to be desired and so does their meat department. My favorite for produce and cheeses and such is Trader Joe's. I wish Wegman's would come south and enter our market, but I don't know that we'd experience the same quality they have closer to their home in Rochester. Still, Lowes Foods is one of the better choices for selection and quality, but not so much for prices. I have yet to see someone tromping through their store in pajama pants and slippers though, so maybe it's worth it. :)
To the person that said Wegman's - YES!
My sister visited from Houston (where they have Publix which is comparable to HT) and she said the same thing. She was shocked at the HT prices. I have since started shopping at Trader Joes (University City off Mallard Creek Church Road) and found the fare to be very high in quality and less expensive than HT.
I shop HT every now and then b/c they support so many schools in Charlotte and they are a local company.
Call me when we get a Wegmans.
Hopefully they will build in Charlotte, they are a great market and have excellent subs.
I'm in the consumer products industry and in fact will be going to California for my monthly trip today.
I can assure you food costs in California are higher than in North Carolina.
Also, Teeter has no monopoly in Charlotte.
Lowes is more compariable to Harris Tetter I would agree Food Lion is no where near a HT. I would say Bi LO but they will soon be Winn Dixie which was a dump to shop in.
So Publix is thinking to move to Carolinas. They are thinking to expand, which means their business is doing well and growing. That should be good in terms of stimulating the current economy?
If you purchase what is on sale, HT is cheaper than the competition. The stores are cleaner, the selection is better, and the associates are nicer. I always welcome competition, but I still keep going back to HT. If you aren't brand loyal, Aldi is a great store for canned goods and bagged products.
Why bother with all these grocers? Just go and find what you need at Walmart. I've shopped there for nearly 20 years and they always have (for most of the time) just what you need - for the lowest or competitive price amongst other stores.
Never heard of Publix. Since they will be in S.C.......why should be givee a happy ____?
The Harris Teeter may think they are a monopoly, but that sounds like a bunch of southpark/ballantyne talk. If all you care about is wearing your mink coat to a grocery store so you can be pampered like you are at a spa, then shame on you. Keep to your Harris Teeter and high prices. Thank God for Super Wal-Mart.
Very few things spark my interest in a Trader Joe's. Limited selection on very odd items. Can't figure out what the big deal is. Food Lion is a major chain and in other cities, is much nicer than those here in Charlotte, sorry to say.
We want stores with cheaper prices. I could care less about going to a grocery store to socialize and order the workers around like some people love to do. That's Charlotte NC for you!
Harris Teeter is only as good as its employees. Depends on where the store is. The Cotswold location used to be top notch until they started drawing all their employees from the scum in Section 8/Grier Heights.
The Central Ave. Harris Teeter is the worst. No parking, slummy conditions, and a policeman who walks the floor who has the personality of a piece of dirt. I will be glad when it shuts down for upgrades. It will be fun to watch the people panic because they have to go to Food Lion.
To the sorry poster above: So if you have section 8 housing, or live in the Grier Heights community, you are scum of the earth and can't work at Harris Teeter?! Pitiful and trashy. Those two words sum up you south charlotte elitists pretty good, plus you will eventually split hell wide open. Luckily, there's plenty of room for all of you down there.
Boy you can really tell you are in a nowhere town like Charlotte when you see comments from people who had rather shop in a posh and lavish looking grocery store and pay foolish prices than spend less on the same items in another store that is very basic with their layout. Sad but typical.
It never fails: A post about grocery stores brings out the worst in people. I don't know quite why (my theory is that grocery shopping is one of the few unavoidable community activities that everyone participates in, and serves as a powerful proxy for all kinds of other facts about people that may or not be true), but people always go a little nuts in the comments on grocery stores. Can we please refrain from banishing each other to hell over supermarket choices, or calling employees of certain stores scum? Thanks, I would appreciate that.
Are we are on the verge of another Civil War in this country...alot of people starting to get mad
Glad to see Publix moving to this side of SC just wish it wasn't beside my neighborhood. But you know I will be shopping there.
Absolutely LOVE Publix. HT will finally have to face some serious competition.
Not familiar with Publix, but as someone said above, why would it matter to those of us who live in Charlotte? Uptown is too far to care about a grocery store in South Carolina.
Harris Teeter has plenty of competition. Not all of us are gullable enough to be fooled into paying those high prices.
always hot women in HT, always.
I would love to see a new grocery store, preferrable one that has better prices, put in the place of the awful Central Avenue Harris Teeter. I have never felt so threatened by the staff as I feel there.
I have shopped at both for many years - pricing issues aside (can't really compare because of them being in different areas - there could be a difference in cost) - I once went into my local Publix when my child was sick asking for Pedilyte Pops - a frozen popcicle with special electrolytes - anyway, they did not carry them but the lady I asked about them asked me to write the name of them down and she gave this to her manager - that evening I got a call from the manager telling me that I could come pick them up the next morning - they has acquired them and had them behind the counter for me and then she proceeded to tell me that they would be carrying them from then on. I was floored... I asked around and found that this was not an exception - they do this all the time as a standard practice. Contrast this to my local HT - I found a cheese that an HT close to my office carried and asked the HT close to my house if they carried it and was told no... I told them about the HT that did carry that product and was told that I should go and pick it up at that HT - while practical advise it does contrast to the way Publix treats customers - I welcome the addition to our area and hopefully HT can learn a thing or two about customer service.
Hurray for Publix but too bad it will be in SC since it is TOO FAR AWAY!! Looks like I'll be overspending at HT for the foreseeable future :(
Publix is a better store and it's cheaper but I wouldn't expect their staff to be any better than the Central HT or Cottswald (95% are fine folks BTW) if they're located in similar areas. TJ's, Target, Walmart and others are great for some things but Publix has much more to offer.
To Anonymous at 12:25........go screw your self!
To anomymous at 2:26.....you`ll be in hell long before we will!
Can we have an Albertsons, please? I loved the one in Boca Raton.
Kudos to you, Ely, for posting your comment! Personally I think most of these people need to calm down and get a life. Totally amazing at some of the ugly comments. People are entitled to their own opinions, but geez. No class whatsoever. And BTW, I enjoy reading your articles.
TC: No one gives a damn what you think. Get back up north with your yankee grocery stores. May you burn in hell forever.
Shop the Farmer's Market!!! Much better prices than ANY grocery store and you know where the food is coming from...short of that...Earthfare...can't wait for the Whole Foods.
Charlotte is a harlot.
-Rev. Flip Benham
Thanks, Anon 3:45. I enjoy reading my articles too, most of the time. The comments are a different story, however. The calls for others to burn in hell based on their choice of grocery store are only intensifying.
I want to be at the grand opening with people standing next to people in tuxedos and black dresses trying to be with the "IN" crowd.
I can't help it, but it's true what was said above about these nose in the air south charlotte folks who want to be pampered at a grocery store. This is not Beverly Hills so quit your Balantine fantasy. You're in the pit of the south, so give me a break.
Mr. Portillo: I think what the original post earlier was saying was in reply to the person who called employees of the Cotswald Harris Teeter 'scum' because they were from section 8 housing. The person who said they would split hell wide open was in response to that degrading and racist remark about the employees and not because of 'their choice of grocery store'.
Publix? Sounds like they would be a publicly traded company but they are not. They need greedy shareholders to suck the life out of them.
I had written to Publix a month ago begging them to come to Charlotte because Harris Teeter is a complete rip off. EVERYTHING about Publix is better. They said that they have no plans at this point to come to Charlotte. And, We all can dream of Wegmans, but that will NEVER happen.
Maybe we can ask Krogers to come to Charlotte?
The site is too small for a grocery store. There's no way there will be enough parking and it is going to be a nightmare to get in and out of especially between 5pm and 6pm. Other than that... WELCOME!
food is more expensive in Charlotte because the morons tax it. Taxing a necessity to live is ridiculous. (talking about raw foods here, not prepared foods)
Don't forget to mention Trader Joe's...best prices and selection and the help wear funny hats!
Yay - Publix - where shopping is a pleasure. This article made my day. Hope they make it into Charlotte soon!
It will be nice to have another choice in Charlotte.
Pat Anthony/Charlotte Healthy Living Examiner.
There is nothing wrong with competion but I personally find the quality of Harris Teeter outstanding. I dealt with Publix in Florida and they were OK. I will remind everyone the amount of involment that Harris Teeter has in the community is second to none.The buisness ethics are untouchable.They care about there customers and the community .
No, Harris Teeter doesn't give a ____ about their customers. Just go to the Central Ave. location and you'll think you landed in a prison yard.
The employees are angry and don't want to be there. The managers could care less about resolving customer complaints, and the security is dreadful, with a cop roaming and giving everyone the evil eye. If you say hello, he will stop and stare at you. Yes, CMPD. No one cares what Harris Teeter does 'for the community' as a tax write off. We want cheaper prices and decent workers.
How many times are you going to bitch and moan about the central ave HT? It is a punishment store, get over it. Goto Cotswold or Dillworth stores. Geez.
Ely, it would be awesome if you would do some price comparisons from different regions of the usa.
Not milk, eggs, and bread.
No. Full Price Items like....
Coke 2 Liter Bottle
Tide 50oz
Scott 1000 12 pk Toilet Paper
Hershey's 2oz checkout candy bar
Dorito's midsize bag
Campbell's condensed chicken noodle soup
Ragu Traditional Spagetti Sauce
Kelloggs Special K 14oz box.
Item that are ubiqutious through the United States.
Thanks
FOOD LION STINKS!!!! That has got to be the worst grocery store...Harris Teeter is way over-priced as is Lowe's Food but def prefer Lowe's over HT...Forget Bi-lo and Wal-mart is good as long as you don't want to buy any fresh meats or seafood. I like a good variety of products and from what I have heard about Publix it would make a great asset to our community and I hear they offer a huge selection of products and other items/services. Would love to see one in our area...Charlotte/Gastonia.
This is really good news that Publix is opening its outlet at Charlotte. Publix is good store with. Really good post.
Jeril from Store Hours
"Anonymous said...
How many times are you going to bitch and moan about the central ave HT? It is a punishment store, get over it. Goto Cotswold or Dillworth stores. Geez."
Well, why don't you go straight to hell. Shoppers are not going to drive that far to spend even more money than we already have to at this sorry excuse for a grocery store. Punishment store? Yes, punishing the public. Thank God Almighty that there are two Food Lions close by.
To the sorry piece of trash that said they hated Food Lion, obviously you are part of the ballantine elitist trash that is the root of the grocery store problems already. Food Lion is a very successful national chain and while they are not places you can go in your SUV and act like you are at a day spa to get waited on hand and foot, they are consistent and reasonably priced. Only in Charlotte are the Food Lions not up to standard with other states. Wouldn't matter to me anyway, I go to get groceries and leave, not to walk around on my cell phone and bossing around workers like they are 'the help'. Makes me sick to my ____ stomach.
People really go crazy over the issue of where others choose to shop for groceries. Maybe we should all calm down before somebody's blood pressure spikes dangerously. Note: No one needs to be sent to hell because they choose to shop at Harris Teeter or not. Thanks!
That's interesting....
Sometimes I feel like I'm in Hell when I'm in a Harris Teeter!
Good lord, you all are crazy. I'm not rich but I shop a HT because the Food Lion meat department is kinda skeevy. Who the heck cares?
Also, and given what I just said above this might sound hypocritical, but I haven't shopped at Wal Mart since a friend of mine worked there. They really, really abuse their employees. They basically get in trouble if they work TOO hard because the longer people are stuck in the store, the more they buy. Now there's a grocery shopping issue to get angry about.
DAR
Where is a good place to look for a place to live in the area if I was to be the store manager of one of the 2 stores opening? Publix is the best company to work for, PERIOD!
We need more IGA's, for I shop Compare Foods on Independence.
If you like shopping at trader joes then you will like shopping aldi too since they own trader joes... publix is coming to give harris teeter some really strong competition.. if publix wanted to they could buy HT and still have plenty of money left over.. as far as lowes foods, they get most of their products from the same place HT does and its common knowledge that they use hunter farms which just happens to be owned by HT to get most of their diary products...
Late to the party but Publix bought out Alberton's, or at least many of their stores, a few years ago.
How sad it is that some people can't be civil anymore. And yet, those people often hold tight to their good ole Southern, Church-going values. This was a discussion about GROCERY stores. But it quickly escalated into insults about being from other regions and the, most amazingly, absurd accusations about "wearing mink coats to the grocery stores" in the Ballantyne and South Park areas of town. I am white, Southern AND church-going, but I find all of those judgmental comments offensive. We welcome those who've come to our city from around the country and world. We welcome their diverse cultures and lifestyles and look hopefully to the day when all ignorant local exclusivity is gone.
Please remember that we live in the United States of America, those days of segregation and conflicts between north and south are over. Please feel free to join in anytime into civilization!! ThANK YOU!
Why don't you go home you imbreaded redneck. If you weren't so blindly ignorant you would realize that you aren't from whatever hillbilly town you live in either, you and the rest of your toothless family are an immigrant from another country too. You should really just die
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