LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Publix grocery chain will open its first Kentucky store in Louisville this week. We got a sneak peek Tuesday to see what it will be like when Publix goes head-to-head with Kroger in its own backyard next year.
The Lakeland, Florida-based grocery chain announced in November that it will open a new store near the Triple Crown subdivision in the Richwood area of Boone County. It’s one of four Northern Kentucky locations where developers have been trying to lure the company, as it embarks on a Kentucky expansion that now includes six confirmed locations.
At 56,000 square feet, the new Louisville store is the same size as the planned Richwood site. It’s equipped with a massive deli and coffee shop, along with a pharmacy and a liquor store next door. It’s tucked into an upscale suburb that includes two corporate headquarters, a University of Louisville Medical Center and a Mercedes dealership.
But shoppers will notice some big differences between Publix and Kroger when the two start competing against each other in Northern Kentucky.
“Our associates own the company. Anything you own you take better care of,” said Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous. “It’s not uncommon for our associates to come find a job and make a career here. I’ve been at Publix for 33 years, came in at 14 years old and grew my career.”
Brous declined to comment on Kroger specifically, but it’s clear the company is not intimidated by Kroger’s 43% market share in Louisville.
“Regardless of who the competitor is or what the market share is, we come in one step at a time and we’re making a difference,” Brous said. “We’re eating away at market share and we look to become the grocer of choice for our customers.”
Publix has developed several Kentucky-specific products that will be offered first in Louisville, and later in Boone County. They include locally sourced cheese products and bourbon-infused ham and cookies.
Shoppers will see dozens of buy-one, get-one sale offers that beat Kroger’s prices on name-brand products, based on our comparison of shelf stickers to prices available on Kroger’s app for in-store pickup nearby. And then there are those submarine sandwiches.
“Our subs are one of those legendary products. The pub sub has a cult following on social media,” Brous said. “It is the bread. It is made from scratch in our bakery department. We use either Publix or Boars Head luncheon meats. They’re custom. You build them as you go. They’re fresh.”
But will they be enough to challenge Kroger’s market-leading market share in Louisville or Cincinnati?
“I think that there’ll be enough business to support both of them,” said Steve McClain, spokesman for the Kentucky Grocers and Convenience Store Association. Savvy consumers will “shop the weekly ads to see what’s on sale. They’ll figure out, ‘Well, I like meat better at one or the other or I like the produce better at one or the other.’”
