On April 19, 1930 in Winter Haven, Florida; George Jenkins founded a private employee-owned American market. Publix Super Markets, Inc. (Publix) is one of the largest regional supermarket grocery chains in the United States. According to Fortune magazine in 2011 it is one of the top 100 Best Companies to work for ("Fortune", 2012). Earning even more accolades in 2011 Forbes ranked Publix as the No. 6 on the list of as one of the best largest private companies in the United States to work for. The company has a great reputation for providing a great shopping atmosphere, outstanding customer service, and taking care of its employees. This type of dedication to the customer and employees can be seen in the company sales which totaled $27.1 billion in 2011 and profits which were estimated to be $1.5 billion. With these sales figures in place Publix ranks #106 out of 500 of Fortune top American companies. Currently Publix based on 2011 figures Publix is the 14th largest retailer in the United States. Publix and its subsidiaries number 1 function is the selling and operating food supermarkets in the Southeast. Its main base of operations is the state of Florida. They also have stores located in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina. The chain has also branched out into the following product lines which include national and private labels; these are health and beauty aids, pharmacy, flowers (floral arrangements), and general merchandise products.
Competition and Financial Health
Even though Publix is a private owned company is has a market share of 40% just in Florida alone. This directly affects other companies in the region such as Winn Dixie and Wal Mart which are direct competitors. Winn Dixie is also based in the southeast US with Florida as its home base. Winn Dixie has been around for since the 1920s and started expanding around 1955. Recently the company has come back from bankruptcy and is labeled one of the