I grew up in S. Florida since I was 10 years old. We shopped at Publix for the most part. We fell in love with Publix! They were new and clean everything was always shiny. The staff was always friendly and the food was very fresh.
If they didn’t have a product you were looking for they would order it for you to be delivered to that store. They still do that so if you shop and don’t find a product your looking for go to the customer service desk and request it. The other cool thing was the person who bagged your groceries would ask if you needed help taking it out to your car, really? ‘Sure’ we would say! It was even better on a rainy day. In Florida it seemed to rain in the afternoons, it would pour really pour then dry up and get sunny again. So the service of taking your groceries to your car was awesome, still is!
When my parents moved to Boca Raton, Florida, they lived on a street which there was another grocery store, until they built a brand new Publix on their corner so close they could walk from their condo there. My parents would go often and purchased many celebration cakes at that Publix, birthday cakes, anniversary cakes, graduation cakes etc. Dad also loved cold cuts and the staff really got to know my parents pretty well over the years. Going forward 16 years we moved to North Carolina.
Since we moved to North Carolina we didn’t have Publix stores, my mom moved up here after my dad passed away and lived here for over 10 years, still no Publix. In 2012 Publix announced they were coming to the Raleigh area. We were so excited, unfortunately my mom passed away early 2013 right before Publix finally opened here in Cary.
Even on the opening my sister and I went to the store and we literally felt the presence of our parents. Sounds a bit crazy you may think, but there was a connection that I really can’t explain. The next year our daughter was graduating high school, she was very close to my mom because my mom lived with us in her last years. I wanted to get my daughters graduation cake from Publix because it was a family tradition for years, yet the closest Publix here was 35 minutes away and we had another great store down the street, so for time sake I went to our local grocery store to order her cake.
When I spoke with the decorator I told her my story of how I was going to order from Publix because of my mom, the decorator said she moved up here from Florida because her son was going to college at UNC, she said she worked as the cake decorator for Publix for 25 years, guess which Publix she worked at, YES the one in Boca Raton next to my parents house. She believed she remembered them, we both cried and she gave me a hug, and I ordered the cake. When my husband went to pick the cake up, they handed him a full sheet cake, we only ordered a half of a sheet cake, they didn’t charge us for the larger cake, I believe it was a kiss from my mom and dad saying wish they could have been there to celebrate our daughter’s graduation! No coincidences I say what are your thoughts?
