Auburn residents gathered on Wednesday for the long-awaited opening of Auburn's first Publix.
"I'd rather shop at Publix than any other grocery store because there is a wider selection of products here, they have really good deals and employees are willing to help," said student Danielle Ray. "I have also been able to find the organic products I need, and they also carry lactose ice cream, which is good for me."
The 45,400 sq. ft. store located on Moore's Mill Road contains grocery, meat, produce, dairy and frozen food departments. The pharmacy, bakery, deli and fresh seafood departments are all full-service.
"It's not the largest Publix store, but it's a large footprint," said Brenda Reid, Media and Community Relations Manager for Publix.
Store manager Ed Hutton and other business partners greeted customers with flowers as they entered the store. The first 1,500 customers received a free Publix re-usable grocery bag. The first 25 customers who purchased $25 or more in groceries won a free bag of groceries valued at $25.
Customers were enthusiastic to cross the store's threshold.
"I like how organized Publix is, they have an awesome deli, and it's not hard for me to find what I need and more," said Pat Cooper, one of Publix's first customers.
The store had activities for children from 3-8 p.m., including a magician and balloon artist. Customers also registered to win a $100 gift card from Publix, a desert platter, deli platter and fresh products from the meat and produce departments.
Hutton said he thinks attractions like these will keep customers coming back.
"We have competitive prices here, a lot of buy-one-get-one, half-priced deals, and we double coupons every day," said Hutton.
The process of bringing Publix to Auburn was not an easy one, according to Hutton.
"The funds to build a Publix are around $4.5 million, and the reason the construction process was put on hold was because of the constant rain."
For more information, visit the company's website at www.publix.com.
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