Publix may be the largest grocer in Florida, but Kroger holds that title for the nation. Until now, Publix has had a firm hold on Florida's grocer market, but that could be changing. Recently, Kroger paid $15 million for a 74,000-square-foot shopping center in Delray Beach. There is a Publix on the opposite corner of the intersection.
Kroger has locations in 35 states but has not yet moved into Florida. In the 80's, Kroger had locations in Florida under the name of Florida Choice. These were sold in 1988, however. Elsewhere, Kroger and Publix are competing for marketshare. In Palm Beach County, Publix is ahead of its competitors, namely Winn-Dixie, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's. In this area Publix has 75 supermarkets.
In 2017 Publix's sales were extremely high compared to the normal figures seen in the low-margin grocery business - $34.6 billion and a profit margin of 6.6 percent. Contrarily, Kroger showed $123 billion in revenues but a far lower profit margin of 1.6% in the same year. One cause of this difference could be the fact that Kroger sells gas, a difficult market to profit in.
Last week, Amazon and Whole Foods also launched delivery in parts of Palm Beach County in the process of expanding their grocery line.
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