The more I write about Publix’s plans for Orchid, the more I hear from readers who keep asking the same question: Are there enough year-round residents on the northern tier of the island to support a full-service supermarket?
It’s a good question, because that part of the island is the most seasonal section of the county – much more so than the Central Beach and South Beach areas.
So I called Publix.
Apparently, though, Publix’s media-relations folks don’t like talking on the phone. They’d rather exchange emails, which makes it difficult to conduct an actual interview, but makes it easier to evade tough questions and avoid follow-ups seeking specifics.
Which is what happened.
Unable to speak to Publix’s corporate or regional spokes-persons, I sent them an email that included two questions:
- Why did Publix decide to build a store in Orchid, only four miles from its supermarket at U.S. 1 and Barber Street?
- Why does Publix believe a store in that area, where a great majority of the residents spend only a few months each year, can attract enough year-round business to be successful?
Publix’s response?
“There are a number of variables and evaluations utilized in making a decision on investing in real estate and building a facility,” Nicole Krauss, the company’s media and community relations manager for Southeast Florida, wrote in her email. “These evaluations are complex and proprietary.”
She used a lot of smart-sounding words that, for all intents and purposes, told me nothing – nothing I didn’t already know, nothing that would provide any insight into what Publix was doing here and why.
As you’d expect, I tried again, asking if she would provide examples of the “variables and evaluations” Publix used to reach its decision. There was no response.
So I called her boss, Maria Brous, Publix’s media and community relations director.
Brous, however, replied only via email and referred me back to Krauss, who sent another email that contained the same statement she had given me earlier, but with one additional sentence.
“As with all of the potential locations we look at,” Krause wrote, “we are doing our due diligence and have no additional information to share at this time.”
Is that because it’s too complex? Or too proprietary? Or might it be because Publix knows this might be a risky proposition?
Look, it’s difficult to question Publix’s business decisions. It’s the largest employee-owned supermarket company in the United States, as well as one of the nation’s 10 largest-volume supermarket chains.
The Lakeland-based company operates more than 1,200 stores, nine distribution centers and 11 manufacturing facilities, employing nearly 200,000 people in seven southern states, where its retail sales in 2017 reached $34.6 billion.
Publix also has a deserved reputation of being a terrific company for which to work, for its outstanding customer service, and for its civic involvement in and charitable contributions to the communities it serves.
Still, it’s fair to ask why Publix, given the seasonal challenges it surely would confront, wants to put a store on the northern part of the island – especially knowing its proposed site plan, submitted to Orchid officials last month, is almost certain to face opposition from some town residents and many in the neighboring communities.
Several Old Orchid and Seasons homeowners already have expressed concerns about what they fear will be the negative impact the shopping area would have on the tranquil feel of their communities, citing increased noise, traffic and security issues, as well as the intrusive aura of parking-lot lighting.
It’s puzzling that such a successful company wouldn’t embrace the opportunity to ease any such concerns and explain why it would be successful in Orchid, despite the area’s seasonal ebbs and flows.
Phone calls to four of the larger communities from which the Orchid Publix would attract shoppers revealed that only a small percentage of their residents live here on a full-time basis: Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club (15 percent); John’s Island (20 percent); Sea Oaks (35 percent); and Windsor (fewer than 10 homeowners).
“If you’re asking for my expert opinion, I don’t think there are enough year-round residents to draw from on that part of the island – not for a store of that size,” said Jason Keen, chief operating officer for the Village Beach Market, which has been locally owned and operated by his family since 1980.
“We lose money during the summer months,” he added. “Four months of the year, we lose money. Two months of the year, we break even. We make money from January to March and during a few weeks around the holidays in November and December.
“And our store is five times smaller than what Publix wants to build up there.”
The Village Beach Market, located on highway A1A in northern Vero Beach, is only 6,000 square feet. Publix’s site plan includes a 31,000 square-foot supermarket and a separate 6,000 square-foot retail building that would contain five stores, both to be built on a seven-acre parcel on route 510 in the southeastern corner of Orchid.
Keen said his market also benefits from serving a segment of the island populated by more year-round residents.
“A large percentage of our customers live in Central Beach and South Beach, where 60 to 65 percent of residents live here year-round,” Keen said. “There are also more families there, too, as opposed to the North Beach area, where you have a lot more two-person households.”
In the interest of transparency: Keen approached Orchid Town Manager Noah Powers earlier this year to inquire about building another Village Beach Market on the same site if Publix opts to back out or its plan is rejected.
Keen said operating a smaller store there, particularly with his family’s roots in the community and familiarity with the seasonal nature of the island community, could be profitable.
But a larger, full-size supermarket, such as the one Publix wants to build to anchor a six-store shopping center?
“They’re a big, successful company and they might know more than me, but I don’t see how they’ll get a return with a store that size,” Keen said. “And what about those retail stores?
“What are they going to say to Publix when there’s not enough business during the summer months to make their rent payments?”
Based on the company’s track record, you’ve got to believe Publix has the answer – to that question and all the others.
So why not tell us?