Publix, Wegmans among Fortune's best retail workplaces

Nov 3, 2016, 10:51am EDT

Ashley Gurbal KritzerSenior ReporterTampa Bay Business Journal

Employees at Publix Super Markets Inc. likely aren't dreading the holiday rush and shopping carts piled high with ingredients for celebratory feasts.

The Lakeland-based grocer has been named one of the top large retail workplaces by Fortune magazine, according to a new ranking out this week.

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Publix is a top retail workplace.

Publix is No. 3 on that list — which is topped by one of its newest competitors, Wegmans Food Markets Inc.

Wegmans, an upstate New York grocer that's amassed a cult following despite a limited footprint in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, will go head-to-head with Publix for the first time in the Richmond, Virginia, area.

“From the very beginning, the company makes you feel like family. I’ve made some of my closest friendships working at Publix. We have a strong connection and firm trust in one another," an employee told Fortune.

Fortune has recognized Publix many times in the past. The grocer pushed its way into the Fortune 100 this year, and Fortune also named it a top workplace for millennials. A Fortune writer also went undercover in a Publix store in the Orlando area for an in-depth piece on the company.