- GreenWise Market is scheduled to open in South Lakeland by the end of 2019.
- GreenWise Market are sleek, hip, gourmet and antibiotic-free.
Publix arranged a recent tour for The Ledger of its new GreenWise Market in Tallahassee. A similar store is scheduled to open in South Lakeland by the end of 2019.
The list of natural and organic specialty stores surging into Florida is long and getting longer.
Sprouts Farmers Market. Lucky’s Market. Trader Joe’s. Earth Fare. The Fresh Market. Earth Origins Market. Whole Foods Market.
Conventional supermarket chains are responding as competition among retailers heats up. Publix Super Markets’ answer is GreenWise Market. They’re sleek, hip, gourmet and antibiotic-free.
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And one is slated to open in Lakeland by the end of the year. It’s one of 10 GreenWise stores in the works — six in Florida, two in South Carolina and one each in Alabama and Georgia.
It’s been 12 years since Publix rolled out its first generation GreenWise Markets, beginning in Palm Beach Gardens and followed by one in Boca Raton and a third in South Tampa’s Hyde Park.
Forget what you know. GreenWise 2.0 is a horseradish of a different color.
“I love it here, it’s so clean and calm,” said Kayla Thompson, 18, soaking up morning sun on the veranda of GreenWise Tallahassee, immersed in a trendy, off-campus housing community near the campus of Florida State University.
A freshman at Tallahassee Community College, the St. Augustine resident was one of dozens of collegians immersed in studies. At a grocery store of all places. On a weekday morning.
Like honeybees, they swarmed the ornate patio and mezzanine lounge, downing kombucha and spring water, picking at freshly cut fruit and Asian noodle bowls. One young man inhaled a fruit smoothie at the indoor bar where a tattooed barista pulled espresso.
Later in the day taps flow with craft beer and wine. You can purchase bar snacks like baked chicken wings, pizza by the slice, fresh popcorn in dill, cheddar, caramel, salt-and-pepper and other gourmet flavors.
“We want this (store) to be a gathering spot,” said Jared Davis, 37, who started with Publix in Sarasota at age 16 and never left. He now manages the Tallahassee GreenWise.
His look is business-casual: dressy jeans, button-down shirt open at the collar, polished oxford lace-ups with contrasting soles.
“Simple, smart and efficient,” Davis said, summing up the GreenWise style. “It makes it easier to be ourselves.”
It’s likely that no two GreenWise stores will be exactly the same but all are expected to have a footprint of roughly 28,000 to 29,000 square feet, smaller than the average Publix, which is closer to 45,000 square feet.
The Lakeland store will have many of the same amenities, including a beverage bar, olive bar, hot and cold buffets serving everything from fresh salad greens to buffalo chicken meatballs. You’ll find bulk foods like trail mix, granola, grains and more, but forget about fried chicken, anything containing high fructose corn syrup and plastic check-out bags.
Bins are painted black, allowing neat piles of produce to pop with color. Rows of kale, Swiss chard and carrots are treated like museum specimens. A wall of fresh-cut flowers adds texture. Cezanne would have a field day.
The Publix name and logo is out of sight. Shelves are stocked with GreenWise branded products, alluding to meat raised without antibiotics or added hormones; seafood that’s sustainably sourced.
“We’re very proud of this (concept),” said Dwaine Stevens, a Publix spokesman who grew up in Lakeland but now lives in Jacksonville. “This is more of a niché aspect, more of a concentration of specialty foods (compared to Publix).”
In the minds of Publix executives, positioning Lakeland’s GreenWise Market in close proximity to the Publix at Lake Miriam Square makes perfect sense, according to Stevens, as product crossover will be kept at a minimum. The new store is under construction at 4717 S. Florida Ave., where a Kmart once stood.
You’ll go to Publix for everyday needs and certain BOGO buys and reserve trips to GreenWise for a broader selection of organics, GreenWise labels and grab-and-go foods, not to mention house-prepared specialties like smoked brisket, maple-flavored sausage, artisan sandwiches like ham and brie on a baguette, and roasted Moroccan-spiced carrots tasting of mint and harissa.
At GreenWise, experts guide customers through a maze of body care products, natural vitamins and supplements; a certified sommelier, or someone fluent in the grape, will help you find the perfect bottle.
Upstarts like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods have so far ceded Polk County to Publix, which is headquartered in Lakeland. Publix no doubt is betting on GreenWise to keep the hounds at bay.
Date: April 30, 2019
Source: The Ledger