Clever marketing, great customer service, and quality over low prices are the core of Publix’s success. While Wal-Mart focuses on the other end of the market – the end that, with limited financial means, wants the lowest possible prices for reasonable quality – Publix focuses on the customer base with a little more money to spend. The average Publix customer is more interested in great quality than in saving a couple of dollars, and in being treated like royalty rather than herded through cattle-call lines with harried cashiers.

Not only is Publix focused on service, they have great marketers who know how to create a buzz. Kroger, one of its major competitors, tends to plan around the opening of a Publix near its stores by waging deep-discount wars and trying to create buzz with prices. Publix, on the other hand, puts up eye-catching billboards and somehow draws incredible interest without seeming to try. If you’ve ever been to a Publix opening, you’ve seen it yourself.

Publix stock tends to follow a different pattern from Wal-Mart and other stores associated with discount prices. When the economy is very good, Publix will do well, as will everyone else. But because of the way wealth is concentrated in America, Publix stock is more stable when the economy takes downward turns. And because Publix builds its stores in areas with high concentrations of wealth, its investors tend to be people who shop there anyway – and if you shop where you invest, you’re less likely to worry about a downturn when you’re walking through packed aisles.

If you’re looking for the blue chips of the future, Publix stock is almost certain to be a great choice. While Kroger and Wal-Mart are still secure in their market niches, Publix is forcing them to change their marketing patterns as it gradually moves stores into areas historically controlled by other grocers. It’s a trend-setter to watch.