Expansion
Building materials were scarce during World War II, so Jenkins purchased Lakeland Grocery Company, which included a chain of All American Food Stores, in 1945. The company was headquartered in Lakeland, Florida, and included 19 locations. He promptly moved the Publix offices to Lakeland Groceries' existing buildings in the larger city. Jenkins travelled frequently, for he was always looking for products and innovations to improve his stores. In the 1950s, bakeries and flower shops were added, delicatessens came in the 1960s, and in the 1980s, pharmacies and Presto!, a network of no-charge automated teller machines. In the early 1990s, the chain began to expand outside of Florida, starting in Georgia. By 1995, there were over 500 supermarkets in three states with almost 100,000 employees and sales of $9.4 billion. As of 2012, Publix operated stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Read more about this topic: George W. Jenkins
Famous quotes containing the word expansion:
“We are caught up Mr. Perry on a great wave whether we will or no, a great wave of expansion and progress. All these mechanical inventions—telephones, electricity, steel bridges, horseless vehicles—they are all leading somewhere. It’s up to us to be on the inside in the forefront of progress.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“The fundamental steps of expansion that will open a person, over time, to the full flowering of his or her individuality are the same for both genders. But men and women are rarely in the same place struggling with the same questions at the same age.”
—Gail Sheehy (20th century)
“Artistic genius is an expansion of monkey imitativeness.”
—W. Winwood Reade (1838–1875)