Aug. 2, 2016 — When George Jenkins founded Publix in 1930, he embarked on setting the store apart from the competition. Publix offered services and value to customers, as well as features not seen in other grocery chains, such as air conditioning and automatic doors.

One perk at Publix that has been a part of the company since the beginning is the “people weighers.”

During those early days, scales were popular around shopping areas as customers would pay a small price to find out their current weight. In contrast, Publix scales were completely free for customers.

Jenkins said that more than 5 million customers used this free service in Publix’s first year of business.

Scales were initially located in the back of Publix stores but were moved to the front for convenience, and that’s where customers at many of our Florida stores can continue to find them.