Publix Super Markets
We're just two miles east of yesterday's Walmart Neighborhood Market for a 48,700 square foot Publix. Although there are quite a few Publixes in the Charleston area, we aren't actually going to tour any of them although we'll see a couple more before we leave the Mid-Atlantic region.
Opened: unknown
Previous Tenants: none
Location: 1575 Old Trolley Rd, Oakbrook, Summerville, SC
Photographed: January 2022
I'm not familiar with the history of Publix in the SC region. From Wikipedia, it looks like they entered South Carolina fairly early (their first store outside Florida, in Savannah, GA opened in 1991 and their first SC store opened two years later). The chain is way larger than I thought it was, with an astounding 1200 locations, over 800 of which are in Florida. Gee, I should do more research before I start writing. Anyway, tomorrow we move onto another chain that I don't know too well but that has locations around the area. We'll be headed into Charleston proper tomorrow, although outside of the main downtown area. Come back to check it out!
Publix might not have the largest geographic footprint, but they're the 4th largest grocery chain in the United States: https://www.supermarketnews.com/retail-financial/top-25-supermarket-operators-sales (I believe they drop to #6 when you factor in Walmart and Costco, but still, that's impressive).
ReplyDeleteThe Publix pictured here is store #483, which opened on 12/5/1994 as Publix's 5th location in South Carolina. Publix #449 in Mount Pleasant was the first in SC, opening on 12/6/1993.
Thanks for the details on this location.
DeleteIt's extremely impressive that Publix is either in the 4th or 6th largest position in the US, since either one is extraordinarily high-up on the list for what's basically a large regional chain (I believe I've heard similar chains, like Wegmans, referred to as "super-regionals". Am I using that term right?). I very much was not aware of that until very recently!