Last week’s program was provided by Rotarian Marcus Caswell. Marcus introduced Brian West, Community Relations Manager for Publix. Publix was founded in 1930, in Winter Haven, Florida, by George W. Jenkins.Publix is the largest employee-owned grocery chain in the United States. As one of the 10 largest-volume supermarket chains in the country, retail sales in 2016 reached $34 billionandPublix currently employs over 188,000 people. There are 1,169 store locations with the majority, 781 stores, in Florida. There are 186 stores in Georgia and 65 stores in Alabama. North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia also have Publix locations. Throughout Publix history, the associates and customers have helped Publix grow from a single store into the largest employee-owned grocery chain in the United States. Publix thanks them by remaining deeply dedicated to customer service and community involvement, and, being a great place to work. The mission at Publix is to be the premier quality food retailer in the world.To that end, Publix is committed to be:Passionately focused on customer value,Intolerant of waste,Dedicated to the dignity, value and employment security of our associates,Devoted to the highest standards of stewardship for our stockholders, andInvolved as responsible citizens in our communities. The Publix guarantee is to never knowingly disappoint you. If for any reason your purchase does not give you complete satisfaction, the full purchase price will be cheerfully refunded immediately upon request. The biggest challenge to Publix today is; On-Line ordering and striving for more convenience. Industry wide, on-line grocery shopping is still just a “sliver” of the market but continues to grow. Publix is always looking for different ways to make shopping more convenient. They have now partnered with “Baycare” to establish walk in health center treatment centers in the Publix stores. 26 of these locations are scheduled to open by the end of the year. Walmart Supercenter is the biggest competitor for Publix in Florida. Publix has an amazing impact in the community. There are 7 different cash register campaigns that have raised over $6 million from customers and associates donations. Publix gave over $48 million in 2017 to several different charitable programs in the area.
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Rotary gives $53.5 million to help eradicate polioEVANSTON, Ill. (Jan. 25, 2018) — With 22 confirmed cases in 2017 to date, and just one case in 2018, the world is on the brink of eradicating polio, a vaccine-preventable disease that once paralyzed hundreds of
Migration challenges inspire peace scholarRotary Peace Fellow Linda Low could not have known what world events would bring when she took a position as the communications manager for the Europe region of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
