Complimenting Publix Staff Could Go A Lot Further Than You Realize

While many companies' mottos are aspirational at best, Publix shoppers tend to agree that shopping there is truly a pleasure. Perhaps it's the legacy of being the very first grocery store in the U.S. to offer air conditioning for its guests — transforming a tedious errand into a true respite for shoppers seeking an escape from the Florida heat. Publix was also the first to introduce an electric eye door in a grocery store, which automatically opened so customers no longer needed to push the door with their hands full of groceries. At some locations, you can even drink alcohol while you shop. These and many other lesser-known facts about the grocery store are part of what make Publix so beloved.

Southern hospitality is woven into the fabric at Publix, as all 1,432 stores are located within the Southeastern United States. The bakery's free cookie program gifts a cookie to kids each and every grocery store visit, and baggers still offer to load groceries into vehicles for customers, with a strict no-tipping policy set by the store. But that doesn't mean you can't celebrate an especially helpful and kind employee. If a manager overhears a customer complimenting an employee for their customer service, or if the customer goes directly to the manager with the compliment, they might just gift the employee a free half-sub sandwich from the deli. 

Publix has long made its employee culture a priority. As the largest employee-owned company in the U.S., the grocery store chain has made Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For" list every year since the list began in 1998. The grocery store's Pub Subs are a long-time customer favorite, so they make for a worthwhile reward for associates — and most Publix employees likely know about the secret to customizing Pub Subs. Still, online forums discuss the shortcomings of this policy. 

Publix associates have shared that customer compliments don't always translate into a complimentary lunch. An employee on Reddit explained that "the number of these 'free sub' coupons that the store has is limited," so not every kind word will be rewarded. It seems to largely come down to manager discretion, with some being more generous with the vouchers than others. Sometimes, managers simply forget to follow through with a reward for their deserving employees. 

While it might be a mildly annoying thing about shopping at Publix, it's still worth letting Publix staff know — and especially the manager — when an associate made your shopping experience a real pleasure. They say there's no such thing as a free lunch — but at Publix, kindness sometimes pays.