Food Fight

"I think that could happen," he says. "Perhaps another large U.S. retailer could move into Florida-Kroger has stores in Atlanta now-but I don't know whether they'd be motivated to do that, since it's so difficult to compete against Publix."

Every retail category has experienced tremendous consolidation. Wal-Mart and Target are the two big mass retailers; Best Buy and Circuit City are the two big electronic stores; Home Depot and Lowe's are the two big home improvement retailers. The grocery business, Weitz says, is the last big retail industry to consolidate. But now consolidation is happening due, in large part, to centralized information systems that allow chains to manage stores, he says.

"The downside is that it is homogenizing our culture too much," he says.