I used to shop at Publix for almost all my groceries. I like their stores and selection and hours and employees, and especially their weekly buy-one-get-one-free deals. I also love that I can get Publix groceries delivered through Instacart, especially during pandemic times. I used to shop at Publix, but I got concerned when I found out the family heiress, Julie Jenkins Fancelli, funded the insurrection.
I’m not real into padding the coffers of seditionists, so I haven’t shopped at Publix since I heard that news, but not wanting to make any hasty decisions and in light of Publix saying stuff like, “Mrs. Fancelli is not an employee of Publix Super Markets, and is neither involved in our business operations, nor does she represent the company in any way,” I thought I’d call them up and see if I could figure out a little bit more where Publix stands on whether democracy is a good thing.
Now, I don’t really care whether Ms. Fancelli is an employee or not, but I do care if her antidemocratic values have rubbed off on the company, so I wanted them to answer three questions:
1) Has Publix issued a public statement saying that the 2020 presidential elections were free and fair and that Joe Biden was elected president?
2) Has Publix publicly condemned the violent insurrection of the United States Capitol on January 6th, 2021?
3) Has Publix ceased to make political contributions to any congressperson who voted to invalidate the results of the 2020 presidential election?
After waiting on hold for about 12 minutes while the recording told me that Publix is experiencing a high call volume (go figure), Yvonne came on the line and gave me these three answers.
1) No.
2) “The violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was a national tragedy. The deplorable actions that occurred that day do not represent the values, work or opinions of Publix Super Markets.”
3) We don’t comment on politics.
Oh, dear. That’s not what I wanted to hear. I decided before I called that unless and until Publix can answer all three questions with a resounding YES, I’ll take my ~$10k annual grocery budget elsewhere. I stopped shopping at Publix. I’d encourage anyone else who lives where Publix operates to do the same.
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Oh, I found out that Instacart delivers Aldi and Target groceries, too, so all is not lost, though I surely will miss those BOGOs.