Aldi bought Southeastern Grocers Inc., the parent company of Winn-Dixie. | Jessica Palombo, Jacksonville Today
Published on March 7, 2024 at 3:25 pm
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Aldi, one of the nation’s biggest grocery chains, has completed its acquisition of Jacksonville-based Southeastern Grocers.
This transaction has been in the works since Aldi announced in August that it would acquire Southeastern’s Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets.
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Southeastern Grocers operates about 400 stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.
In a news release Thursday, Aldi said a “significant number” of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets will be converted into Aldi stores over the next several years. Aldi did not say which stores would be converted.
The company plans to begin that process with about 50 stores in the middle of the summer. Most of those store conversions are expected to be completed next year.
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Aldi plans to keep the Southeastern Grocers headquarters in Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Daily Record reported.
“With the acquisition of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets, Aldi will serve even more communities in the Southeast, bringing us closer to our customers in a region where we’ve already experienced significant demand for affordable, quality groceries,” Aldi CEO Jason Hart said in the news release.
Southeastern Grocers also owned a chain of 28 Hispanic grocery stores called Fresco y Más, which it sold to Fresco Retail Group LLC, an investment group focused on food and grocery.
Winn-Dixie was founded in 1925, while Harveys was started a century ago by Iris and J.M. Harvey. At least 70 Winn-Dixie and Harveys supermarkets, liquors stores and pharmacies operate in Northeast Florida, many clustered in Jacksonville and northeastern Clay County as well as St. Johns County.
The company has had its financial ups and downs in recent years.
Southeastern was formed in 2012 after Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. merged with Bi-Lo LLC. Both Winn-Dixie and Bi-Lo went through Chapter 11 restructurings before their merger.
Southeastern also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in 2018, saying it planned to close 94 underperforming stores, including six in North Florida and Southeast Georgia. It continued operating 582 other stores in seven states under the brands Winn-Dixie, Bi-Lo, Harveys and Fresco y Mas.
In 2021, Southeastern officially pulled the plug on plans to take the company public. It did not cite a specific reason but noted that “the company will continue to evaluate the timing for the proposed offering as market conditions develop.”
