super markets inc. storefront of publix in surfside florida . type private employee owned industry retail founded winter haven florida september 6 1930 ; 86 years ago 1930 09 06 founder george w. jenkins headquarters lakeland florida number of locations 1 120 1 2016 area served florida georgia north carolina south carolina tennessee alabama virginia 2017 key people todd jones ceo & president 2 ed crenshaw chairman 2 products bakery dairy deli frozen foods grocery meat pharmacy produce seafood snacks liquor lottery tickets sushi greenwise western union money orders dry ice prepared foods services supermarket event planning money services revenue 32.36 billion 2015 3 30.56 billion 2014 3 operating income 2.869 billion 2015 3 2.570 billion 2014 3 net income 1.965 billion 2015 3 1.735 billion 2014 3 total assets 16.36 billion 2015 3 15.08 billion 2014 3 total equity 12.43 billion 2015 3 11.35 billion 2014 3 number of employees 180 000 1 2016 website publix.com publix super markets inc. commonly known as publix is an employee owned american supermarket chain based in lakeland florida . 1 publix operates throughout the southeast with locations in florida georgia alabama south carolina tennessee north carolina and have plans to expand to virginia in 2017 . 1 founded in 1930 by george w. jenkins publix is a private corporation that is wholly owned by present and past employees . it is considered the largest employee owned company in the world . it is currently ranked no. 67 on fortune magazine s list of 100 best companies to work for 2016 4 and was ranked no. 8 on forbes 2015 list of america s largest private companies and is the largest in florida . 5 the company s 2015 sales totaled us 32.4 billion with profits of 1.97 billion ranking 87 on fortune magazine s fortune 500 list of u.s. companies for 2016 . 6 supermarket news ranked publix no. 5 in the 2014 top 75 north american food retailers based on fiscal year sales . 7 based on 2014 revenue publix is the thirteenth largest u.s. retailer and thirty fifth in the world . 8 publix s current stock price is 41.90 per share 9 though stock in the company is only available for purchase by eligible active employees and non employee members of its board of directors . 9 in 2011 publix announced they would be moving into the north carolina market first opening stores in the charlotte metropolitan area 10 and later announced construction of a new store in asheville . 11 the first charlotte area stores located on the south carolina side of the metropolitan area opened in 2012 ; the first north carolina store opened in ballantyne on february 26 2014 . 12 concurrently publix purchased seven charlotte area locations from competitor bi lo stores . 13 publix completed the purchase of property in boone north carolina on november 20 2015 with plans to open in 2017 . 14 in february 2016 publix announced their entry into the virginia market with the signing of two store leases the first in bristol scheduled to open in 2017 and the second in metropolitan richmond scheduled for 2018 . 15 in july 2016 it was announced that publix had entered into a purchase agreement with ahold and delhaize group for 10 martin s food markets locations in the richmond market as part of the divestiture of stores to gain clearance from the federal trade commission for the impending ahold delhaize merger . publix employs almost 180 000 people at its 1 114 as of 2015 year end 16 retail locations cooking schools corporate offices eight grocery distribution centers and ten manufacturing facilities . the manufacturing facilities produce its dairy deli bakery and other food products . 1 publix stands as one of the largest u.s. regional grocery chains one of a very small number which operates over 1 000 locations . its main competitors are the national grocery chains iga kroger supervalu and whole foods ; consolidated retail and warehouse chains including wal mart target kmart costco sam s club and bj s wholesale club ; and several regional grocery chains including bi lo operating under both its own name and that of its wholly owned subsidiary winn dixie harris teeter fresh market piggly wiggly k va t food city food lion ingles and rouses . publix stores are found as far north as clarksville tennessee and as far south as key west florida while the westernmost location is in greater mobile alabama . as of 2015 the state of florida still has the largest number of stores with 768 nearly three quarters of the outlets . 16 contents 1 history 2 market 2.1 aprons 2.1.1 aprons simple meals 2.1.2 apron s make ahead meals 2.1.3 aprons cooking school 2.2 publix greenwise market 2.3 publix sabor 2.4 pharmacy 2.4.1 free medications 2.4.2 the little clinic 2.5 current and former projects 2.5.1 online shopping and delivery services 2.5.1.1 publixdirect 2.5.1.2 publix curbside 2.5.1.3 instacart 2.5.2 food world 2.5.3 publix pix 2.5.4 crispers 2.5.5 publix liquors 2.5.6 ticketmaster 2.5.7 dvd rental kiosks 2.6 presto 2.6.1 fees and the network 3 working environment 3.1 lgbt policies 4 awards 5 charitable activities 6 legal disputes 7 stock 8 locations 9 see also 10 references 11 external links history edit the first publix super market in winter haven florida circa 1940 . it now exists as a thrift store . 17 george jenkins opened the first publix market in winter haven florida on sept. 6 1930 a 27 ft by 65 ft building at 199 west central avenue . 18 19 20 in 1934 that store made 120 000 in sales . in 1935 he opened a second market the economy food store also in winter haven . despite the great depression his stores were financially successful . in 1940 jenkins affectionately called mr. george by his employees mortgaged an orange grove to build florida s first supermarket . his food palace had piped in music air conditioning cold cases for frozen and refrigerated items in store donut and flower shops and electric eye automatic doors . during world war ii material shortages prevented him from building additional stores . in 1945 jenkins purchased the 19 store all american chain of food stores and converted them into publix super markets . 21 in 1951 publix moved its headquarters from winter haven to lakeland florida and built its first distribution warehouse there . at the same time they began to close the all american stores replacing them with publix markets . in 1956 publix achieved 50 million in sales and 1 million in profit . in 1957 the donut shop in each store was expanded into a full service bakery . by 1959 publix was the dominant supermarket chain in central florida and began expansion to south florida . in 1963 the company built a distribution center in miami and began providing deli services . in 1970 sales surpassed 500 million ; they reached 1 billion in 1974 when the chain expanded to include jacksonville florida . in 1982 the company launched the presto atm network ; it soon installed atms in every publix . sales exceeded 5 billion in 1989 . 22 the first publix outside florida opened in savannah georgia in 1991 ; distribution and manufacturing facilities in dacula georgia a northeastern suburb of atlanta soon followed as it began to expand into metro atlanta in 1993 . publix further expanded into south carolina 1993 alabama 1996 tennessee 2002 and north carolina 2014 . publix celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2005 . during that time it used the slogan it s been our pleasure . standalone publix in pompano beach florida with typical architecture of early 21st century stores . in early 2005 publix renamed its checkout section from common area to customer service . this change coincided with a new color and design scheme of the store s interior signage which replaced the aging coral navy blue and sea green design with emerald green tan and gray . the former employee uniforms also began to be phased out ; each district has a selected store where employees wear the old uniforms until none remain in the warehouses . publix completed the implementation of its new point of sale terminals price publix retail improved checkout experience in 2006 replacing the previous generation of ibm 4690 terminals . the newer system combines a hewlett packard rp5000 terminal with a touchscreen system and an epson thermal printer . a separate lcd screen for customers lists the last several items scanned the running total of the bill customer savings recipe ideas and publix advertising . 23 24 by september 2010 checkouts in all stores were expected to have card readers replaced with units featuring signature capture . a converted albertsons location in south tampa florida publix super markets bought 49 florida stores from albertsons . the deal was announced on june 9 2008 and was completed on september 9 2008 . it included 15 locations in north florida 30 in central florida and four in south florida . the sale allowed publix to operate four stores in a new market area for the company escambia county florida the pensacola area . 25 on february 5 2009 publix opened its 1 000th store in st. augustine florida allowing the company to become one of only five u.s. grocery retailers to operate that many stores . the st. augustine store is among publix s first stores designed to be energy efficient . the store includes motion sensor lights throughout the store including on the freezer doors and an overhead light system that can be controlled by each department . 26 in 2011 publix completed a rollout of oasis a new timekeeping and labor forecasting system company wide . oasis replaced the outdated people planner labor management system that publix used for almost two decades . oasis provides a more accurate labor forecast for stores to generate schedules that fit their business needs . selected stores throughout the company piloted oasis beginning in 2009 . with oasis associates are able to view their schedules from their home computers and enter requests for time off into a self service workstation . on october 22 2013 publix said they will be selling the pix convenience stores thus exiting the convenience channel . circle k stores inc. purchased 13 of the 14 locations while max arnold & sons llc bought the one in tennessee . publix will retain the pix name . 27 in april 2016 ed crenshaw grandson of founder george jenkins retired from his position as ceo . 28 president todd jones a 36 year publix veteran whose first job was as a front service clerk bagger has taken on ed s responsibilities as ceo marking the first time that someone outside the jenkins family is in charge of the company . 29 ed crenshaw will remain with publix as chairman of the board of directors . 30 on february 2 2016 publix announced plans to expand into virginia starting in 2017 having signed leases for two new locations in bristol and glen allen located in the greater richmond area . 31 32 in july 2016 it was announced that publix had entered into a purchase agreement with ahold and delhaize group for ten martin s food markets locations in the richmond market as part of the divestiture of stores to gain clearance from the federal trade commission for the ahold delhaize merger . 33 34 market edit each store provides specific products and services in its grocery deli bakery produce floral meat and seafood departments . some stores have valet parking caf s sushi bars pharmacy departments and or a liquor store . along with this publix provides a comprehensive special order service . irregularly stocked or rare items from almost all departments even some products carried only by publix s competitors can be ordered through this service . this service