Publix: Where Shopping (And Stealing) Is A Pleasure

July 15, 2017, 03:35 PM

V-Tail

If you live in the southeastern part of the U.S., you know about Publix. For the rest of you, Publix is a chain of grocery supermarkets that offers good customer service and a good selection of grocery items, including some pretty high quality house brand stuff.

I stopped in the local store to pick up a couple of things for dinner on my way home today, and observed a couple, man and woman, probably in their 50s or 60s. Nothing special about their appearance, they certainly did not look like People of Walmart, but they sure were behaving that way.

They had some fresh fruit in their basket, including a bag of cherries and a bag of grapes. Both of these items are sold by the pound and are weighed at the checkout register.

These two were standing there, stuffing cherries and grapes into their mouths just as fast as they could cram them in. I don't mean tasting one or two to sample them, I mean wholesale chowing down.

I looked around, but as far as I could tell, there was no crew from Candid Camera.

July 15, 2017, 03:43 PM

mrapteam666

I have never heard of Publix until recently.

One opened this weekend here in the greater Richmond area and there are two more planned.

My sister lives near St. Petersburg speaks highly of them.

Like everything else here in Richmond, (especially where they built these) they will go to crap and the ghetto hord will rob them blind.

I am interested in visiting one once the hoopla of the grand opening dies down.

July 15, 2017, 03:44 PM

ZSMICHAEL

Yeah the free buffet. I see moms that allow their kids to eat candy and then Forget to pay for it.
I sometimes like to comment upon the diseases you can get from unwashed fruit when I see this behavior.

July 15, 2017, 03:57 PM

Black92LX

Publix is by far my favorite grocery!
We shop there when at our place in Florida. I wish we would get one here but I doubt that will ever happen as we are already saturated in Kroger and Meijer territory.

July 15, 2017, 04:19 PM

lyman

I worked in the grocery business for 35 yrs,,

that is an every day thing,,

ditto salad bars,

or hot foods,

get it, eat it, and stuff the package somewhere and move on,

caught just about every age and demographic stealing over the years, from poor homeless to rich folks driving new cars living in toney neighborhoods,,

July 15, 2017, 04:23 PM

Lord Vaalic

Never buy food from a place called pube licks

July 15, 2017, 04:35 PM

ZSMICHAEL

quote:
worked in the grocery business for 35 yrs,,

that is an every day thing,,

ditto salad bars,

or hot foods,

get it, eat it, and stuff the package somewhere and move on,

caught just about every age and demographic stealing over the years, from poor homeless to rich folks driving new cars living in toney neighborhoods,,

Guess I am not surprised. How do the stores handle this stuff? Thanks

July 15, 2017, 05:06 PM

45 Cal

quote:
Guess I am not surprised. How do the stores handle this stuff? Thanks

Simple,that said store as well as others mark up to pay for the loss,you should see the grazing that goes on in the near wal mart from me.
Street bums get fed daily this way.

July 15, 2017, 05:58 PM

Arty

Our local Publix have the best quality fruit and vegetables around. Meat, too, but at a higher cost, so I only buy what's on sale. I like Publix. This is not a commercial, just my opinion about quality food. And down here in south Georgia, I have seen a few people openly carrying their pistols, with no comments from management, or others.

July 15, 2017, 06:17 PM

GWbiker

We got homeless down here who go into a Supermarket with back pack and load up with groceries, then try to make it out the door W/O paying, of course.

Sometimes they do with the backpack....sometimes they don't with the back pack as grocery help are quick to tackle them and get the stolen items.

Some Supermarket's (Albertson) don't bother with calling the Police. They just let the perp go.

July 15, 2017, 07:59 PM

mikeyspizza

I've seen people do that before.

I also once saw a middle-age Asian woman opening egg cartons and swapping out smaller eggs for larger ones.

July 15, 2017, 08:16 PM

V-Tail

I'll sometimes swap eggs if I open a carton with a broken egg, and there's another carton with some broken and some unbroken. I figure better to swap and leave one carton with broken eggs, than to leave two cartons on the shelf with broken eggs.

I'll just do that with a cracked egg, not one that has broken and made a mess.

July 15, 2017, 10:10 PM

NK402

Years ago, my young nephews were visiting Richmond from their home in Brooklyn. While visiting a local grocery store we came upon a barrel of cookies, that were being sold by the pound. One of the kids yelled, "Hey look, loose cookies!" When I said, don't they have those in Brooklyn, he replied, "Heck no, the bums would eat 'em !"

July 16, 2017, 01:33 AM

Rey HRH

It doesn't just happen in Publix.

I think it's okay to taste one or two grapes. But to stuff your mouths, open up packages and eat while strolling down the aisle....

"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.

July 16, 2017, 06:01 AM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by Rey HRH:
It doesn't just happen in Publix.

Of course not. I was really commenting on the two people who were doing this, not on the location. I just happened to mention Publix because that's where I was when I saw it, and I used their slogan ("Publix, where shopping is a pleasure") for the thread title. Something like this would not surprise me at all in Walmart. I just did not expect to see it in Publix, but I guess that no place is immune.

quote:
I think it's okay to taste one or two grapes. But to stuff your mouths, open up packages and eat while strolling down the aisle....

Agreed. If I'm deciding whether or not to buy something, one or two grapes would probably not even make one penny of difference when the package that contains maybe a couple of pounds is weighed at the checkout register. These people were not tasting one or two. They were cramming them into their mouths, much like pigs feeding at the trough. I have had pets, cats and dogs, that ate more politely than these two sub-humans.

July 16, 2017, 07:27 AM

SIG 229R

V, I have done the same thing with eggs. However the big W has now started shrink wrapping two 18 egg cartons together and this leaves no opportunity to inspect but, it is quite a bit cheaper to buy those than it is to buy two single 18 egg cartons.

As far as Publix we are just now getting one, is to be open by early fall (late Aug. or early Sept) if however they are as high priced as I have heard I will only go there when they have a lot of good sale items.

July 16, 2017, 08:07 AM

V-Tail

quote:
if however they are as high priced as I have heard

Price kind of varies, depending on the item. Many staples are a bit on the costly side there, so I buy things like brand-name bread and similar items at Walmart.

My take on this is that Publix really shines in a few areas:

Store brand stuff. Things like Publix Premium ice cream. A full half gallon, frequently on sale for $3.50, and some of the best store-bought ice cream I have ever had. They stock many flavors, including The One True Flavor (maple walnut). Publix Premium frozen take-and-bake pizza is among the best of that type. The in-store bakeries turn out some really good bread (especially the onion rye) at competitive prices, along with decent rolls and pastries of many types.
The Publix shopping week runs from Thursday through the following Wednesday. One of my Thursday morning habits is to check the website for the new week's specials. They usually have several Buy One / Get One deals for things that we use.
Publix pharmacy. The things that I pay for are priced similar to other low-priced pharmacies in the area. Publix also has a list of commonly used meds that are FREE, with or without insurance. Lisinopril, which my doc prescribes for my blood pressure, does not cost anything. There is a whole list of free meds, including Cipro, so if the doc thinks an antibiotic is in order, I always ask him whether Cipro is suitable.

Publix also has a selection of specialty items that other grocery supermarkets in the area do not carry. They are usually willing to special order things that they do not normally stock. All of the fish markets in the immediate vicinity have gone out of business; Publix has a small selection of fresh, never frozen, fish.

No, I don't do all of my shopping there, as some items are expensive, but I do go there for the "deals" and for items that I can't find anywhere else.

But to get back on track, I did not start this thread to sing the praises of Publix, I started it to comment on the two sub-human pigs that were lunching up on "free" fruit.

July 16, 2017, 09:23 AM

chansen92

quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail:
If you live in the southeastern part of the U.S., you know about Publix. For the rest of you, Publix is a chain of grocery supermarkets that offers good customer service and a good selection of grocery items, including some pretty high quality house brand stuff.

I stopped in the local store to pick up a couple of things for dinner on my way home today, and observed a couple, man and woman, probably in their 50s or 60s. Nothing special about their appearance, they certainly did not look like People of Walmart, but they sure were behaving that way.

They had some fresh fruit in their basket, including a bag of cherries and a bag of grapes. Both of these items are sold by the pound and are weighed at the checkout register.

These two were standing there, stuffing cherries and grapes into their mouths just as fast as they could cram them in. I don't mean tasting one or two to sample them, I mean wholesale chowing down.

I looked around, but as far as I could tell, there was no crew from Candid Camera.

Dam, I guess I had better start wearing more discreet clothing when I go out shopping because do not want to look like I shop at WalMart to. Kind of reminds me of the old K-mart days and the blue light specials that always seemed to bring on criticism.

July 16, 2017, 01:14 PM

V-Tail

quote:
Originally posted by chansen92:
quote:
Originally posted by V-Tail:
Nothing special about their appearance, they certainly did not look like People of Walmart, but they sure were behaving that way.
Dam, I guess I had better start wearing more discreet clothing when I go out shopping because do not want to look like I shop at WalMart.

You might want to read my original post again. I made it easy, I extracted the significant portion, above.

It's not what you wear. It's not your physical appearance. It IS your demeanor. It IS how you behave in public (and Publix

that makes the difference.