Dive Brief: 

• Publix announced it will exit the convenience business and sell its 14 PIX locations.
• Publix has been testing the PIX concept, which places a convenience store and a gas station next to a Publix supermarket, since 2001.
• Circle K Stores will buy 13 of the PIX locations. The remaining outlet is being sold to a family-owned business based in Kentucky.

Dive Insight:

On the surface, the PIX stores seemed like a good idea. But apparently things didn't work out as expected. Still, it's worth noting that the convenience/gasoline concept may return at Publix someday. The chain first tested liquor stores at Publix locations in the 1980s, but pulled the plug in 1989. A little more than a decade later, Publix began opening liquor stores once again.