Publix Super Markets Day

WHEREAS, George W. Jenkins, the son of a Georgia general store owner, opened the first Publix in 1930 in Winter Haven, Florida; and

WHEREAS, from the beginning, those who work with Publix Super Markets Inc. have shared in the profits and the ownership of the stores, which in 2011 made $27 billion in retail sales , making it the largest employee-owned supermarket in the country; and

WHEREAS, in 1940, Jenkins mortgaged an orange grove for the down payment on Florida’s first supermarket, a marble, tile and stucco palace; and

WHEREAS, Jenkins equipped that first supermarket with innovations never seen before in a grocery store: air conditioning, fluorescent lighting, electric-eye doors, frozen food cases, piped-in music, eight-foot-wide aisles, open dairy cases and in-store donut and flower shops; and

WHEREAS, the privately held Publix now operates 1,061 employee-owned supermarkets in five states, including 51 in Alabama; and

WHEREAS, Publix Super Markets opened its first store in Alabama in 1996 and now employs 6,034 in our state; and

WHEREAS, the Publix guarantee to never knowingly disappoint its customers is legendary in the grocery industry; and

WHEREAS, for 15 consecutive years Publix has been ranked on FORTUNE’s list of “The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America;” and

WHEREAS, Publix also ranks among FORTUNE’s “Most Admired Companies;” and

WHEREAS, on September 25, 2012, at The Club in Birmingham, William E. “Ed” Crenshaw, current chief executive officer of Publix Super Markets Inc. and grandson of the Publix founder, is the keynote speaker for the 31st Annual Alabama Retail Day; and

WHEREAS, Alabama Retail Day is a cooperative venture of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Business and the Alabama Retail Association; and

WHEREAS, Publix has been a member of the Alabama Retail Association since 2003; and

WHEREAS, Ed Crenshaw began his Publix career in 1974 as a stock clerk in Lake Wales, Florida; and

WHEREAS, Ed Crenshaw also worked as a store manager and in buying and retail operations at Publix Super Markets Inc. before becoming chief executive officer in 2008; and

WHEREAS, Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw ranks sixth in the Supermarket News’ Power 50 list of the most influential food industry executives.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama, do hereby proclaim September 25, 2012, as

Publix Super Markets Day

in the state of Alabama.

Given Under My Hand and the Great Seal of the Office of the Governor at the State Capitol in the City of Montgomery on the 25th day of September 2012.

      

Robert Bentley, Governor