By Mark A. Stevens
Georgetown County Adminstrator Sel Hemingway was impressed with what he saw following a Tuesday morning tour of the new Publix Super Market in Pawleys Island.
In fact, Hemingway said, he hopes the development the 45,600-square-foot store has already created won’t be the last.
“A name brand such as Publix will certainly be a catalyst for other business,” he said. “We’re already seeing indications of this with other parcels being developed in the immediate area.
“This type of development and the jobs it brings to the community, as well as the diversified offerings it brings to residents, are wonderful news.”
Nearly 125 associates will be employed at the Pawleys Island store.
Publix officially opened Wednesday, March 25, at 7 a.m., but the store gave tours the day before to media and a few local residents, including Hemingway. The store is the 1,098th Publix store to open since the company was founded in 1930 in Winter Haven, Florida.
Hemingway was pleased, too, that the new grocery store has led to the revamping of the entire Pawleys Island Plaza.
“I think that has been a great renovation project for that shopping complex,” he said.
On Tuesday, guests who arrived at the store for the preview were divided into small groups and given tours of the deli, the produce section, the meat and seafood department, the bakery, the store’s pharmacy and more.
Employees offered samples of food — everything from key lime pie and strawberry shortcake ice cream to sushi and the store’s signature hand-breaded chicken tenders.
“We aim to please,” said Kim Reynolds, Publix’s community relations manager, who drove in from Charlotte, North Carolina, to help open the new store.
As invited guests, tote bags in hand, exited the store following the well-executed Tuesday-morning tours, Reynolds was beaming.
“Today was wonderful and so exciting,” she said. “Our associates have been working so hard to get the store open, and they are so excited to begin serving customers. This has been a long time coming for both them and the community. They’ve been training and stocking the store. Today was just a fun way for them to practice and get ready for grand-opening.”
The store has been under construction for months. Publix joins the town’s four other major grocery outlets: Bi-Lo, Food Lion, The Fresh Market and Lowes Foods, which opened last year not far from the new Publix.
“There are a lot of options in Pawleys Island,” Reynolds acknoledged, “but we hang our hat on being the premier store for customer service and the products we offer and the knowledge of our associates. We are so pleased to be opening in Pawleys.”
Local residents seemed to be happy, too.
Mike Diem, who lives near the new store, said, “This is just fantastic. I’m retired, so I’m always looking for good specials. I like that we have a lot of options for grocery shopping. There’s a niche for everyone.”
John and Betty Brannan said they enjoyed their preliminary peek at Publix. A cousin worked for the grocery chain before he retired, and the Pawleys Island couple said they often asked him, “When is Publix going to open a store in Pawleys?”
“And now,” Betty Brannan said, “it’s happened, and we couldn’t be more happy. This store will knock everyone’s socks off. This is absloutely where we will do our shopping.”
In welcoming guests, Reynolds noted that Publix is the largest employee-owned supermarket chain in the nation.
“That’s something we are very proud of,” she said. “There’s more to us than the number of stores and sales. It’s really about our people.”
Publix has stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Publix is privately owned and operated by its 174,000 employees and, in 2014, had sales of $30.6 billion.
“We have really grown in the last 85 years,” Reynolds said.
“We are excited to begin serving customers in Pawleys Island and providing premier service, quality products and value – including a large selection of buy-one, get-one free deals weekly,” Reynolds said. “Additionally, we are looking forward to being an active and present partner in the community.”
Alfred Greer will serve as store manager and has 17 years of service with Publix. He most recently served as a Publix store manager at the Palmetto Pavilion in North Charleston.
A press release provided the following details about the store:
The Publix deli has associates available to assist customers during store hours and includes a full-service deli counter highlighting Boar’s Head meats and cheeses as well as traditional deli items including custom Publix subs, fried and rotisserie chicken, prepared fresh in store. The deli also offers an international selection of olives, antipastos and hummus.
The store carries a large selection of freshly prepared foods created in-house daily. A soup bar offers four gourmet soups daily. Sushi is also available and made fresh daily.
The Publix deli also offers online easy ordering. Order a sub and sliced meat and cheeses online and skip the line. When you are ready, pick it up and enjoy. Visit publix.com for more information.
The produce department carries both organic and conventionally grown fruits and vegetables, including a selection of exotic choices from around the world and the locally grown season’s best. The full-service floral department offers everything from the classic elegance of a dozen roses to bouquets bursting with fresh blooms to pots of lushly colored flowers. A floral specialists is available to create memorable arrangements for that special occasion.
The Publix bakery is a scratch bakery that offers an array of cakes, cookies and pies as well as wedding cakes made by skilled decorators and an assortment of breads and rolls made fresh daily. Customers will find a selection of bakery items made with all-natural ingredients, including mini desserts, jumbo muffins and jumbo cupcakes.
The wine department offers an expanded variety of premium and specialty wines from the United States and around the world, along with a large selection of champagnes and sparkling wines. The selection also includes fine wines made with organic grapes.
Aprons Simple Meals is a cooking demonstration station offering customers two recipes each week. Meals clerks conduct live cooking presentations in the built-in kitchen area where recipes are demonstrated on a daily basis.
All of the ingredients for these recipes will be found in the Aprons Simple Meals case located directly next to the kitchen. Also available is high-quality cookware to help customers have fun and save time in the kitchen.
A full-service meat department allows customers to have their order cut any way they like and trimmed to perfection. The case will feature a variety of fresh meats as well as ready to cook items prepared fresh in store daily.
A full service seafood department offers fresh seafood delivered throughout the week. It includes wild and farm-raised varieties of fresh fish as well as an extensive variety of shellfish options, including lobster. Publix’s whole fish and fillets are fresh, never frozen.
In addition, the store offers a full-service Publix Pharmacy.