The Wall Street Journal reports that “the place to see-and-be-seen” in Palm Beach, Florida, last week “was not Chez Jean Pierre (a longtime hoity-toity bistro on North County Road with Dover Sole Meuniere and Hazelnut Souffle, you know the type) or roaming the racks of the 70% off sale at Saks (better to do that online, in the privacy of your own Roberta Roller Rabbit pajamas), but rather, the newly remodeled Publix, which opened the doors to its 45,000-square-foot mecca of glorious grocery moments before all the New Yorkers (and their staffs) came down for the holidays.”
The story goes on: “This Publix is actually still a Publix, filled with Boar's Head products and Hot Pockets, Special K cereal and Wonder Bread, Cosmopolitan magazine and Greek yogurt. Still, there are certainly more snooty Jimmy Choo- and Lilly Pulitzer-clad ladies roaming its aisles than probably any other supermarket on the East Coast. It is the Palm Beach Publix, after all.”
The story goes on: “This Publix is actually still a Publix, filled with Boar's Head products and Hot Pockets, Special K cereal and Wonder Bread, Cosmopolitan magazine and Greek yogurt. Still, there are certainly more snooty Jimmy Choo- and Lilly Pulitzer-clad ladies roaming its aisles than probably any other supermarket on the East Coast. It is the Palm Beach Publix, after all.”
- KC's View:
-
There is so much about this story that is out of my comfort zone. For example, I wouldn’t know a Jimmy Choo if someone stepped on my foot while wearing one ... though I guess I should at least get some credit for knowing that they are shoes. (I blame that on Sansolo, who used to watch “Sex And The City” and knows all about this stuff.)
I’m also not big on hoity-toity cuisine. If I’m in Florida, just give me a grouper sandwich and maybe some conch fritters.
But credit Publix for knowing its customer base, and opening a store that makes the gossip columns in a place where that kind of stuff matters.
