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Henderson County News

Shoppers fill parking lot to sample new Publix

Shoppers took almost every space in the parking lot and filled the aisles as they checked out the new Publix for the first time on Wednesday. The supermarket chain opened the store at 7 a.m., plunging into the south gateway battle for food and pharmacy dollars and putting competitors to the test. "I don't know where they would have parked if we had parked there," Assistant Manager Linda Rush said. She was referring to nearly 150 employees on duty for the grand opening, all of whom were directed to park at Mud Creek Baptist Church and shuttled to the store all day long. The 88-year-old Lakeland, Fla.-based grocery chain moved into North Carolina in 2014, opening stores in South Asheville and Weaverville as well as metro areas in the Piedmont. The store on Greenville Highway at White Street had been the subject of much second-guessing. The grocer’s plans to build a new store in Hendersonville first surfaced in February 2015 and was officially announced 16 months later. Numerous tries at a floodplain permit has delayed a final OK and even now the store opened under a temporary certificate of occupancy while it awaits final state approval of its floodplain plan. “I’ve had so many questions about when you were going to open,” Mayor Barbara Volk said to Kim Reynolds, the Charlotte-based community relations manager for Publix.Besides the curious, the shoppers are likely to include the many area residents who have lived at some point in Florida, where Publix dominates the food market. “We anticipate there will be a line around the corner when we open,” Reynolds said on Tuesday morning. Sneak peek Mayor Volk was among about 15 guests who got a sneak peek at the new supermarket on Tuesday. Now that it's open, Publix will flex its retail muscle with its reputation for service, a wide variety of fresh produce, meats and produce and Aprons Simple Meals, a cooking demonstration station offering customers two recipes a week.The store has hired 150 employees, most of them from the area, and promoted many managers from other stores.“Publix does have a culture of promoting from within,” Reynolds said.Store manager Sanel Tufekcic comes from Palmetto, Florida, in the Tampa Bay area, where he was assistant manager. Assistant Manager Linda Rush, who transferred from the Publix store in Greeneville, Tennessee, said she had her eye on the Hendersonville store as soon as she learned it would open.Bakery manager Emily Tompkin came north from the Villages in Central Florida.“I’ve always been in the bakery,” she said. “I started as a decorator and actually my daughter’s a decorator now, too. My husband’s a baker.”Kaye Strang knows her way around a kitchen. She closed the Saluda Grade Café when she could not find enough help. She’s now a Publix deli clerk and loving it. Her bosses like her, too.“When we first met, I thought you were a transfer from another store because you knew everything,” Rush said to her. Aprons Simple Meals At the Aprons Simple Meals station, Bil Mitchell asked everyone whether they knew what they were having for dinner that night. No one raised their hand. Seventy percent of the time people at mid-day don’t know, he said. That’s the market Publix targets with its simple recipe approach, serving up the day’s special from among 1,300 recipes. The station is stocked with the ingredients for that night’s supper.“A lot of people struggle with what to have for dinner,” he said. “You can come by here and a half hour later have everything you need.”At the seafood counter, Bob Doughty boasted that “the fish we sell was swimming in the ocean 1½ days ago.” Retired from Raytheon in McKinney, Texas, Doughty decided he still wanted to work and immediately thought of Publix.“I knew Publix from my Florida days,” he said. “Publix was always the place we shopped.”Meat cutter Taylor Ortiz left an assistant market manager job at Ingles in South Asheville to take a new job at Publix.“It’s absolutely amazing,” he said of the work environment. “Every day it makes me happy to have made that decision.”Other specialties include olives, antipastos, hummus and more than 200 varieties of artisan cheeses, sushi made fresh daily, fresh soup bar, a full-service pharmacy with an expanded health and wellness section and an event planning center that can put together menus for everything from tailgate parties to weddings.Started in Winter Haven, Florida, in 1935 by George W. Jenkins, Publix has 1,197 stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. It has 188,000 employees and reported sales of $34 billion in 2016. One of the largest employee-owned companies in the U.S., it has been named one of Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” for 20 years straight.It opens its store in the south gateway against a recently remodeled Fresh Market, the Harris Teeter and a new Ingles and it becomes the sixth pharmacy within a few hundred yards of Greenville Highway at Spartanburg Highway. Denise Cumbee Long, the executive director of the United Way, was among the invited guests at the preview. She had never set foot in a Publix.“Pretty impressive,” she said. “I think they’re going to give other stores a run for their money.” * * * * * Publix store hours are 7 a.m.-10 p.m. seven days a week. Pharmacy hours are 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. The phone number is 694-4440.       Read Story »

Henderson County News

School Board likely to pick HHS architect Friday

The Henderson County School Board will meet at 9 a.m. Thursday to hear two finalists pitch their architectural firm’s ideas for Hendersonville High School construction.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

Neighbors poised to fight drug rehab center

A full house is expected Wednesday night when supporters and opponents of a drug rehab center across from Mud Creek Baptist Church make their case to the Henderson County Zoning Board of Adjustment.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Publix wins permit to open Wednesday

Publix is set to open its 50,000-square-foot Hendersonville store at 7 a.m. Wednesday after receiving a temporary certificate of occupancy allowing 90 extra days to get a federal floodplain permit.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

'Hello from 2018!' Here's county's time capsule letter

Henderson County officials and the Charters of Freedom organization placed a letter in a time capsule last Wednesday as part of the dedication ceremony for the new display at the Historic Courthouse plaza of the nation's founding documents. Here’s the letter placed in the time capsule, which is scheduled to be opened on Sept. 17, 2087, the 300th anniversary of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution: September 19, 2018 Dear Future Henderson County Residents, Hello from 2018! Sixty-nine years ago, the letter you are reading was encapsulated in the time capsule of the Charters of Freedom monuments that proudly stand in the courtyard of the Henderson County Historic Courthouse. This time capsule was part of the dedication ceremony that took place to commemorate the documents known as the Charters of Freedom. Those documents include The Declaration of Independence, The United States Constitution and The Bill of Rights. These documents have been instrumental to the founding and philosophy of the United States of America, and have sustained this great nation for the past two hundred and thirty one years.We, the undersigned to this letter, are the people who are working here in Henderson County’s Historic Courthouse to make a difference for all the citizens of the county. Whether you are a business owner, an apple farmer, a judge, a student or a doctor, we work to ensure that you have the rights guaranteed to you, on a local level, by the Charters of Freedom.We work hard every day to bring quality public services to our citizens. Things that most of us take for granted like good jobs, smart use of land, personal and environmental health, safety and protection, these are the things that local government works to provide for its citizens. We hope that the future finds you hard at work also! Life offers us many opportunities to reach out and help each other. Just today, Henderson County was able to send some of our finest first responders (emergency personnel) to assist our North Carolina family in the eastern part of our state. Hurricane Florence will be remembered by the history books in 2087, but it will be remembered by those of us who experienced it, and other challenges like it, as an opportunity to experience the best part of ourselves – our humanity. No matter what happens between now and the time you are reading this letter, know that the spirits of cooperation and kindness were alive and well in 2018! * * * * * The letter was signed by Board of Commissioners Chair J. Michael Edney, Vice Chair Grady Hawkins and commissioners Charlie Messer, Thomas Thompson and William Lapsley, and staff members Terry Wilson, Clerk to the Board; Steve Wyatt, County Manager; Amy Brantley, Assistant County Manager; Kathryn Finotti, Public Information Officer; Megan Powell,  Budget Manager; Russell Burrell, County Attorney; Joanne Hinson, Administrative Assistant; Marcus Jones, County Engineer; and Christine Brown, Recycling Coordinator.           Read Story »

Henderson County News

World Equestrian Games wraps up

Germany’s Simone Blum made equestrian history as she was crowned Individual World Champion in the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Jumping Championship on Sunday as the FEI World Equestrian Games Tryon 2018 concluded its two-week run at Tryon International Equestrian Center. It was a bright spot on the closing day of the games, which during its two-week run had its share problems made by man and Mother Nature.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Time capsule shows benefits of gateway zoning

From the mid-1980s through the mid-’90s, Hendersonville and Henderson County had endured more than a dozen controversies that centered on development, some of it unwanted.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Los Colognes headlines Rhythm & Brews

Los Colognes headlines Rhythm & Brews on Thursday night with Hustle Souls at 6 p.m. and singer/pianist Laura Laugher and guitarist Tim Levene kicking off the evening at 5 with a variety of rock, blues and Motown favorites. Hailing from Nashville, Los Colognes brings a new sound to the Rhythm & Brews stage that has been described as having European vibes and fitting well into the transcendental psychedelic jam band world.  Rhythm & Brews, a free concert downtown, features local food trucks, homemade ice cream, local craft beer, hard cider and wine.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Southern App's Oktoberfest, home of weiner dog races, adds events

The 8th annual Oktoberfest at Southern Appalachian Brewing Co. on Saturday features two new events plus the popular weiner-dog races and other traditions.   Read Story »

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