Publix

Boulder, Colo. — Giant-Landover and ShopRite are shoppers' two favorite supermarkets, according to results of a survey released Tuesday.

Lakeland, Fla. -- Publix Super Markets Inc. announced the promotion of Gino DiGrazia to VP finance.

In addition to his current responsibilities for business analysis and reporting, DiGrazia assumes many of the responsibilities previously held by Kelly Underhill, director of tax and treasury, who retired from Publix on March 30, 2012 after 22 years of dedicated service.
 

LAKELAND, Fla. — Gino DiGrazia, who currently serves as VP and controller of Publix's business analysis and reporting, has been promoted to VP finance. In addition to his current responsibilities for business analysis and reporting, DiGrazia assumes many of the responsibilities previously held by Kelly Underhill, director of tax and treasury, who retired from Publix on March 30.

Lakeland, Fla. — Publix has achieved the eco milestone of saving more than 2 billion grocery bags since mid 2007. The company said it achieved this goal by training front service clerks and cashiers to increase the number of items per bag, implementing bag reduction goals for each store, holding communication campaigns to encourage the use of reusable bags and donating reusable bags to non-profits and partner organizations throughout the Southeast.

LAKELAND, Fla. — Publix's associates and board members will be pleased with the news that the company's private stock has increased from $22.40 per share to $22.70 per share, effective May 1. Since it is not publicly traded, only current Publix employees and members of its board of directors can buy Publix stock.

While there still is not enough new shopping center construction to warrant a “Fastest-Growing Developers” ranking system — as Chain Store Age provided for 20 consecutive years, from 1989 to 2008 — progress continues to be made.

Relocating a business and a family from Memphis, Tenn., to St. Petersburg, Fla., is a short distance in miles, but for The Sembler Co., which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, the journey has been much longer.

“We have developed 350 projects, including 125 or 130 shopping centers,” said Mel Sembler, recently named chairman emeritus. “It’s been an interesting career.”

Waban, Mass. -- Research released Monday by Temkin Group, which ranked the customer experience at 206 large companies across 18 industries, found that several grocers are offering excellent customer service.