At last: Crawfordville welcomes its first Publix store to much fanfare in Wakulla County
TaMaryn WatersCRAWFORDVILLE – Giant green and white "Now Open" signs signaled what everyone had waited more than a year to see: the first Publix location in Crawfordville.
Before sunrise, lines formed outside the sliding doors. A flood of shoppers poured in and was greeted by associates and managers standing by, eager to assist on the historic day. By 10 a.m. Thursday, nearly every parking space was filled.
One employee breezed by, stopped and said to another associate, "This is kind of crazy, isn't it?"
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It wasn't just about shopping and snagging BOGO deals. The Publix presence in Crawfordville, a town of just over 4,100 residents, is seeing explosive growth and caught the attention of the largest employee-owned company in the country.
Publix Supermarket at Crawfordville Commons shopping center is located at 2343 Crawfordville Highway. It will have nearly 150 employees and represents the 1,300th Publix location in the Southeast.
Fred Hand IV, vice president of development for Hand Properties Inc, who owns the property Publix is leasing for its store, said the opening is “a really big day for the community.”
“Crawfordville and Wakulla County have been deserving of this store for at least five years,” Hand said. “We think the store is going to do extremely well, and we know the community is very excited to have it.”
Hand describes the arrival of a Publix store in Crawfordville as “perfect timing," adding the housing boom taking shape in the small town helped lure the company's interest.
“The residential growth in the county and in the city has been substantial enough that in the last few years, it finally merited a store," he said. "You can see the traffic on (U.S. Highway) 319. You can see what Florida (Department of Transportation) is doing with the widening going north towards Tallahassee. All of that came together in the perfect time.”
Lisa Wycoff lives in Panacea. Like everyone else streaming in, she was excited to witness the store opening and be among the first to patronize it.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity for another option,” Wycoff said, adding she normally uses Walmart pickup or Winn Dixie. “Those have been our closest grocery stores.”
She doesn’t mind the 19-mile drive to get here. For her, it’s worth it and still among one of the closest options within driving distance of her.
Another reason she stopped in, Wycoff said, “Those Pub subs, hello?”
Inside during the grand opening, associates offered samples of fresh baked croissants and Boar's Head nibbles made of slow smoked turkey and smoked gouda cheese.
David Fetcher, a longtime Crawfordville resident, exited the store and made his way to his car in the parking lot. He said the store’s opening is all people talked about for months.
“It’s an asset to the county. We’ve been waiting for it,” Fetcher said. “Now, it’s here.”
Before now, he’d drive to Tallahassee to shop at Publix.
“You get what you want, even though you pay a little more, but you don’t mind doing that because you get what you need,” said Fetcher, regarding the store’s appeal. “I like Publix, always have.”
The 46,811 square-foot store mirrors a typical Publix location and includes various departments, including fresh produce, a full-service bakery, deli and pharmacy. It also included six self-checkout registers, an increasingly common sighting in retail stores.
“We are very excited to open our first Publix in Crawfordville,” said Hannah Herring, Publix media relations manager, in a statement. “We look forward to providing premier service and quality products to new and existing customers who can now enjoy having their Publix closer to home.”
Contact TaMaryn Waters at tlwaters@tallahassee.com or follow @TaMarynWaters on Twitter.
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