The best day of my life: The grand opening of the Publix in South End

What can I say? I love grocery stores. Well, if we’re being completely honest with each other, I actually just love food. But it sounds more ladylike if I say grocery stores.

So when Publix announced their opening on Saturday, I knew I had to be there. At 7 am. When they opened their beautiful, automatic doors.

Here’s an overly thorough recap of my experience:

6:49 am 

Parked in the parking deck.

There are spots outside (along the store’s front entrance) but they are marked with “2 hour max” signs. I’ve been known to take my time while shopping, so I didn’t want to take that chance.

When I pulled into the empty parking deck, it became clear to me that being the first one in line at a new grocery store isn’t as popular as I thought it would be.

6:53 am

Waited impatiently for the doors to open.

At least there were free donuts.

7:00 am

Greeted by the manager? CEO?

An important man in a suit made a quick speech. He talked about how excited he was and no one really paid attention to him because all the employees standing behind him were holding free samples.

There was a small ribbon cutting, which was adorable. However, there was one major downside: They let the first customer in line cut the ribbon. The downside, of course, was that this wasn’t me.

7:01 am

Got a goody bag and a free carnation.

Publix thinks of everything. They even had carnation holders in the carts!

7:02 am

Ate a free sample of carrot cake.

Ok, fine. I had two samples of carrot cake. But the woman handing them out was really nice and didn’t judge me. She told me that it was ok since carrot cake has vegetables in it.

7:10 am

Browsed some apples.

At first I didn’t want to put anything in my cart because all the shelves looked so beautiful and untouched. But then hunger over-came this feeling and I bought everything in sight.

7:14 am

Seriously considered getting an egg roll from the hot bar.

I decided against it when I remembered it was five hours until lunchtime.

7:16 am

Ate more samples.

While walking through the store, I felt like a celebrity. Each and every employee made a point to say hello, ask if I needed help and some even commented on the overwhelming amount of salsa in my cart. This may not continue past opening day, but I was still very impressed.

7:26 am

Cheese.

7:34 am

Checked out.

I pulled up to the checkout line and was surprised when a girl started unloading my cart for me. I thought I was special, but apparently they do this for everyone.

My cashier was named Stephen. He told me I was his first-ever customer so, obviously, I forced him to take a photo with me. He politely acted like this wasn’t a weird request.

7:41 am

Walked back to my car.

The girl who unloaded my cart asked me where my car was parked. She explained that it’s her job to carry my groceries out for me. I would normally refuse, since I’m not 89 years old and totally capable of pushing my own grocery cart. But she was sweet and eager so I accepted.

After about three minutes, the poor girl pushing my cart definitely wished I had declined her offer. I had no idea where I parked. We ended up walking aimlessly around the parking garage until I realized we were on the wrong floor.

I would have tipped her for making her push my cart around while I anxiously pushed my key fob car alarm, praying it would reveal my car. But she had a pin on that said ‘no tipping’ so I couldn’t even pay her for her bad experience.

7:48 am

Drove away, completely in love with Publix.

Sure, I may still go to Food Lion when I don’t feel like putting on a bra, or Healthy Home Market after I watch an environmental documentary. But the wonderful employees, huge selection and endless free samples have made the Publix in South End my official go-to grocery store. 

And yes, I now see these guys blatantly making fun of me in the background of this photo.