This store has one cool feature that isn't present at the near-identical Woodinville location -- an in-store bar, called The Pub at Lake Tapps. Well,
had -- unfortunately, it seems to be gone for good (at least if Google Maps can be trusted -- I had been hoping it just wasn't open on a weekday afternoon), likely having never come back after the COVID shutdowns. In-store bars (sometimes with customers even encouraged to get alcohol to drink while shopping) were a big deal in the late 2010s, with this one seemingly having opened circa 2019, but I'm not convinced they were ever all that successful, and very few (outside of Publix, possibly) seem to have survived the pandemic.
The Pub? Those concrete floors don't look like any Publix to me! Oh, wait, that's not what they mean, lol.
ReplyDeleteI think some newer post-Covid Winn-Dixies have bars as well. These types of things, and Kro-Bars, have never really been a thing here in Texas. I think the laws here limit things more than in most other states. I think I'm in the minority, but I have no interest in in-store bars and would rather they not exist. The parking lots are crazy enough around some of our supermarkets, we don't need anything which will make them even more dangerous.
Ha! With that in mind, maybe it's only natural that Publix is the main proponent of in-store bars!
DeleteThey've certainly never been a common thing here either. This is the only Albertsons-owned store to ever have had one as far as I'm aware, and I only know of one Fred Meyer and one QFC to have them in the Seattle area (though I wouldn't be too surprised if there were one or two more hanging around). I've never seen any of them busy, so I'm not surprised that the concept hasn't taken off!
Yes, Publix still has the in-store bars (called POURS), and they're a standard feature of their new deluxe prototype. Winn-Dixie experimented with the bars as well, but I haven't seen any new ones of those appear since 2021-ish, and one WD near me (which was one of the few with a WD's Taproom) had its bar removed completely about a year and a half ago. I think there are still a few WD's Taprooms out there, but Publix does seem to be the last grocer out there (outside of specialty stores) that really seems to be embracing the concept.
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly interesting how Publix can seemingly make this concept work while no one else can! I suspect Winn-Dixie saw Publix's success and tried to copy it, but it seems they've had similar results to everyone else who's tried.
DeleteThe Winn-Dixie bars actually predate the Publix ones. I was in the fancy Baymeadows store (which I believe to be the first one to get a bar) back in May and it still had its bar open. There were 7 total Winn-Dixies that had a "Taproom" listed on the webpage when I made my list back in August, but the West Melbourne store is one of them – I'm not sure how accurate Winn-Dixie's website is!
ReplyDeletePublix must be doing well with POURS considering how the concept has stuck around at the few remaining GreenWise Markets and continues to be added to new upscale stores.
There are also a few "Kro-bars" left in Georgia, but I have seen where one or two of them have been removed. I'd say most grocery stores don't seem like the best atmosphere for drinking a beer though, especially when Kroger and Winn-Dixie mostly seem to sell the same domestic beer you'd find at an Applebee's (which doesn't seem like an aspirational goal). I think the thing that Publix has going for it is that they only have local-ish craft beer from microbreweries, they have a rotating selection, and they have some of the cheapest prices for said beer that you can find. They also may do a decent amount of business in take-home "growlers" rather than just people boozing up in the store.
Yeah, I really don't understand the appeal of going to a bar in a grocery store -- I don't really understand the appeal of going to a bar anywhere, to be completely honest, but the whole grocery store bar concept seems particularly weird!
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