C. A. BridgesUSA TODAY NETWORK - Florida
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Get your quarters ready. The process has begun for some of Florida's Winn-Dixie grocery stores to be converted into Aldi stores following an acquisition by the Germany-based company.
Which ones? Aldi is keeping that list to itself for the most part, but some news is trickling out.
"We have officially kicked off the conversion process for the first several stores, including stores in Panama City, Deltona, Pensacola, and Lakeland, Florida," an Aldi spokesperson said by email.
The newly converted stores will be smaller — Aldi grocery stores are generally about half the size of the average Winn-Dixie or Publix supermarket — and stocked with "only the items customers need" for "a quick, easy shopping experience with great products at the lowest possible prices," Aldi said.
A Winn-Dixie in Lakeland shut down and laid off 48 employees last month, according to Business Observer, with plans to reopen in four to six months under an Aldi sign.
Permits filed in Tampa and Fleming Island in Jacksonville suggest Winn-Dixie conversions are being considered there as well, with a Harveys conversion permit in process in Northern Jacksonville. GulfLive.com reported plans for a Winn-Dixie conversion in Panama City Beach. The permits estimate a project cost of around $1.7 million each.
However, the company has warned about reading too much into permits, telling the Bradenton Herald that building permits are "part of our planning process" and may not mean an imminent store conversion is happening. Each store's employees would get a heads up and "plans, opportunities and resources" before any changes begin, Aldi said.
"We remain committed to hiring as many Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket associates as possible from converted stores to ALDI," the spokesperson said, "and we have already seen strong interest in open positions from SEG managers and associates."
In March Aldi finalized the purchase of Southeastern Grocers, which includes Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket, and announced an ambitious 5-year, $9 billion plan to add 800 stores nationwide through new stores and store conversions. The company expects to convert about 50 of its new stores by the end of the year, with most reopening in 2025.
Not all Winn-Dixies will become Aldis
"We intend that a meaningful amount of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets will continue to operate under their current banners," Aldi said, mirroring what CEO Jason Hart said in a release nearly a year ago.
Winn-Dixie employees in the Tallahassee store who asked not to be named have said that conversions are only for those areas without an existing Aldi. (The Tallahassee Winn-Dixie is staying a Winn-Dixie, they said.)
Most of the new store locations are likely to be in the rest of the country, with nearly 330 planned for the Northeast and Midwest and more stores in Southern California, Phoenix and Las Vegas, the release said. But buying Southeastern Grocers gave them a huge jump in the South with about 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket locations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.
"In the first half of 2024, ALDI has opened and remodeled over 40 stores across the nation and expect to nearly double that in the second half," Aldi said, "bringing us closer to our goal of opening 800 stores nationwide over the next five years." According to the company, foot traffic is up more than 20% across the Southeast region since the acquisition as announced in 2023.
Which Florida Winn-Dixie locations are getting converted to Aldi stores?
So far, these locations have either started conversions or are in the permit process, according to various news outlets' reports. Aldi says a permit does not indicate a definite conversion plan.
- Bradenton Winn-Dixie, 5805 Manatee Avenue W.: Tenant interior remodel application filed
- Deltona, 2880 Howland Blvd: According to an Aldi spokesperson
- Fleming Island Winn-Dixie, 1545 County Road 220: Permit process started for conversion
- Jacksonville Harveys Supermarket, 2261 Edgewood Ave. W: Permit process started for conversion
- Lakeland Winn-Dixie, 6902 S. Florida Ave: Store has been closed and 48 employees laid off, although they may re-apply to the new store.
- Panama City Winn-Dixie, 3157 West 23rd St: Scheduled, according to Aldi spokeperson
- Panama City Beach Winn-Dixie, 23200 Front Beach Road: Scheduled, according to Aldi spokeperson
- Tampa, 2100 W Swann Ave: Permit process started for conversion
The Aldi spokesperson mentioned a Pensacola location but did not specify which one. There are three Winn-Dixie grocery stores in Pensacola and several more in the immediate area.
What is Winn-Dixie?
William Milton Davis and his sons opened several grocery stores in Miami in the 1920s and began buying and absorbing other stores. Over the next few decades, they acquired hundreds of other stores and chains including the Winn & Lovett chain in the 1930s and the 117-store Dixie Home chain in the 1950s. They rebranded as Winn-Dixie and became widespread all over Florida and the South.
Winn-Dixie kept expanding until the company ran into financial problems that forced it to close 120 stores in 2004 and file for bankruptcy in 2005. In 2006, Winn-Dixie was bought by Bi-Lo Holdings for $530 million. The new company became Southeastern Grocers, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018 to reorganize. The company also embarked on a plan to upgrade all of its locations. "Over 70% of Winn-Dixie locations have been refreshed, with the rest on the way by 2024," the Winn-Dixie website says.
In March of 2024, Southeastern Grocers was acquired by Aldi.
Winn-Dixie Stores is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.
What is Aldi?
Aldi is an international chain of no-frills grocery stores with no coupons and few if any big-name brand products. You pay a quarter to get a shopping cart (you get it back when you return it) and you bag your own groceries with empty boxes from the store, bags you bought there or containers from home.
There is a double-your-money-back "Twice is Nice" guarantee on its store brand products and the chain regularly offers "FINDS," limited-time offers that change weekly or seasonally and other discounted deals. The company does not offer a membership program, although this April as a joke they announced a new, free, no-subscription, cardless program with 331.9 million members (i.e. the population of the United States) to get the same low prices they offer anyway.
The Aldi chain was founded by Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946 (Aldi is an abbreviated form of "Albrecht Diskont"). After the brothers got into an argument over whether the stores should sell cigarettes, in 1960 they split the company into Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd, which both operate stores internationally in different regions. U.S. stores, including the new Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores, are operated by Aldi Süd. Aldi Nord also owns Trader Joe's.
Aldi U.S. is based in Batavia, Illinois.
What's different between Winn-Dixie and Aldi?
Since the 1920s, Winn-Dixie has been known as "The Beef People," although they have used multiple slogans in recent years with "It's a Winn Win! since 2018.
Aldi does not offer a meat counter.
Nor does it have a deli, a pharmacy or a bakery, or a liquor store. There are no elaborate displays, no overhead music, a much smaller selection with few duplicates of item brands, lots of house brands, and fewer open hours. The goal of all of these is to keep prices low, the company says.
It remains to be seen what Aldi will do with the substantially larger space that will come with a Winn-Dixie or a Harveys store at each location. According to the Jacksonville Daily Record, a permit under review for a local Harveys conversion shows plans to convert a 46,189-square-foot space into a 21,839-square-foot Aldi store.
