WALTON, Ky. — Wednesday morning, a line wrapped around a building in Boone County as shoppers waited to be let in to Northern Kentucky's newest grocery store: Publix.
One of those shoppers was Precious Kaya, who lives in Florence. She said she plans on coming back regularly.
"I’m right down the road, it's already done," Kaya said. "I'm already at Publix, and they say ‘Hello Kentucky’ right?"
She's referring to a special swag bag customers who attended the Publix grand opening were given.
Inside the grocery store, we got to take a tour around the space.
"It should always look grand opening ready, that's what we hope to achieve for our customers,” said Maria Brous, with Publix media relations. "So, this store is about 55,000 square feet."
Like Kaya, some customers only had to drive down the road to check out the grand opening, but others decided to make a longer commute to check out the new grocery chain. Diana Shull said she drove drove 55 minutes down from Middletown.
"I’ve never been in one of these and wanted to come check it out," Shull said.
Publix well-known for its pub subs — but how does the grocery chain compare cost-wise to other groceries?
Learn more about the comparison in the video below:
Grocery Price Comparison
They have some offerings that differ from your typical grocery stores, but I wanted to find out how Publix’s prices compare.
"It's a little bit more expensive than we usually go to Walmart," Shull said.
"The prices are about 50 to 60 cents above what Kroger normally has,” Kaya estimated.
Customers I spoke with said it is slightly more expensive overall, but they found some products for less.
"The milk's cheaper here, and some of the meats and stuff is cheaper here," Shull said.
A dozen eggs:
Publix: $4.29
Walmart: $4.97
Kroger: 4.99
Gala apples:
$1.39/lb.at Publix
$1.23/lb. at Walmart
$1.39/lb. at Kroger
How to find the savings
I asked the Publix team how customers can save money by shopping there. Jared Glover explained some of the deals you can find at Publix each week.
- Utilize BOGO deals: "We are known for our BOGO, buy one get one free offers. We have over 80 usually per week,” Glover said. Glover said you don't have to buy both to get that deal. If you only buy one, you'd get it for 50% off.
- Download the app: Glover recommends downloading the Club Publix app, so you can get early access to deals that drop weekly. He said they have store associates dedicated to helping customers find items that are within their budget.
- Weekly Specials: You can look at the Publix weekly ad online to see all the products that are on sale for that specific week.
The Publix location in Walton is the first to open in the Tri-State, but more are expected to open in Cold Spring, Florence, Independence, and Hebron.
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