In my thirteen plus years of vacationing in Kiawah, I have
spent most of those visits doing my grocery shopping either at the Newton farms
store (now a Harris Teeter) or at the local Piggly Wiggly (Johns Island). Those
plans changed when the Publix store was built about five years ago within West
Ashley Place shopping center (3642 Savannah Highway). My trip to this Publix
from the Kiawah villa takes about twenty to twenty five minutes depending on
traffic.
Not sure if it is due to this store still being somewhat
new, but cleanliness appears to be a priority of this Publix store; inside and
out. The aisles always appear to be easy to navigate. The check out belts and
deli counters are always spotless. Even the parking lot appears to be tidy.
Most store associates are extremely friendly. The deli help
is super friendly as they occasionally offer up a shaving of sliced meat to
sample. I also find it courteous that the check out attendants will sometimes
point out store savings when I could be potentially getting ripped off because
I overlooked a sale. Thanks guys.
It is a challenge for me to do any comparison pricing when measuring
up Publix against Johns Island Newton
Farms (now a Harris Teeter). The island store price markup makes most items at
Publix appear very inexpensive. The real
measurement would be comparing Publix to the local Piggly Wiggly (“The Pig”) or
Food Lion. I can’t make that comparison because I do not shop at those other
locations. Still, I like Publix prices and find pricing comparable to some of
the items I can purchase at my home store in the Chicago suburbs.
Aside from being super clean, I really adore the Publix
store brand items. Since first walking into a Publix, I have found most of
their labeled goods such as their cheesecake, wheat bread, and cinnamon French
toast sticks to be the best. If we could find away to bring home numerous
cheesecakes back to Illinois in the dog days of summer, we would do it.
All in all, I would highly recommend those staying anywhere
relatively close to West Ashley area (within thirty minute drive) to do their
weekly shopping there. You will save a
bundle. Just remember to bring a really well insulated cooler if purchasing
perishables.
