Publix Anchors Miami Growth

MARK HAMSTRA and ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

PUBLIX SUPER MARKETS has more than half the market share in the Miami market, and it shows no signs of slowing.

The company, based in Lakeland, Fla., is adding two more stores in the market this year, and one replacement store, Maria Brous, a Publix spokeswoman, told SN.

That should help build upon the chain's 50.7% share of the grocery market, up 0.1% from the preceding year, according to the most recent data from Metro Market Studies, Tucson, Ariz.

“Publix is still the big gorilla on the street,” one real estate industry observer told SN earlier this year, noting that it is really the only major supermarket operator in the market that is adding locations.

Winn-Dixie Stores, No. 2 with a 12% market share, was down from 12.4% a year ago, but appears to be making progress at shoring up its operations in the region, which has historically been one of the chain's strongest, the observer told SN.

The chain competes well with Publix in many parts of South Florida, the observer added, especially in Hispanic neighborhoods. Winn-Dixie is focusing significant efforts on remodeling and tailoring the assortment to local communities in the Miami market.

Although Wal-Mart has added two of its traditional-sized Neighborhood Markets in the Miami area in the last year, it has curtailed its supercenter development there. It is the No. 3 grocery operator in the market, with a share of 8.6%, ahead of both warehouse-club operators Costco and BJ's Wholesale.

Sedano's, a locally owned regional player that seeks to attract both Hispanic and Anglo customers, has held its own in the market with 29 stores and a 4% market share.

Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market, which added a Wild Oats store in the market and built another new store in the past year, currently has no stores in development in Florida at all.

According to Metro Market Studies, the Miami market — which includes Broward, Dade and Palm Beach counties — indexes slightly below the national average in terms of food-store sales, although consumers there appear to be shifting toward more at-home dining. Food sales per capita scored at 93% of average this year, compared with 84% a year ago.

Although Miami overall has been hit hard by the recession, its diversified economy has helped it fare somewhat better than much of the state, which relies heavily on agriculture, tourism and a new influx of retirees.

“Frankly, growth was an industry for us,” said Rick McAllister, president and chief executive officer of the Florida Retail Federation, Tallahassee.

Aurelio Vasquez, communications manager at the Beacon Council, a Miami economic development agency, told SN earlier this year that she expects the region to recover quickly because of the variety of industries based there.

“The presence of close to 1,200 multinational companies in South Florida — 75% of which are in Miami-Dade — will also help the area recover faster,” she told SN.

MIAMI

Includes Broward, Dade and Palm Beach counties.

SOURCE: Metro Market Studies