Sunday, January 12, 2025

2024 Recap of the Aldi - Winn-Dixie Merger

 

Reflections on Year One of AL-DIxie

Your source for continuing coverage of the Aldi-Southeastern Grocers merger.

Keep on scrolling for AFB's new post on AL-DIxie #213 in Westlake, FL

Appended on January 14, 2025


Wow, what a year!

Despite none of us being surprised that Southeastern Grocers' private equity investors decided to sell out, all of us at My Florida Retail were shocked to hear that the buyer was Aldi.  The news was so sudden that none of us quite knew what to expect.  I, for one, stated, "To some, it may seem like an over-priced speculative land-grab for Aldi, but I think the company has more to gain here than strictly real estate." Seventeen months later, I still stand by my argument that Aldi could have more to gain than strictly real estate; however, it seems like all the German discounter wanted was a blitzkrieg land grab.

Courtesy Aldi - R.I.P. Winn-Dixie #1333 (2001-2024) - Former Delchamps

Back in August 2023, I went on to say that, "While the new Winn-Dixie probably won't take much business away from Publix, I suspect the chain could steal back loads of business from Walmart."  Despite my vision of the ultimate outcome being different back then, it seems like this prediction may still hold fast.

Courtesy Aldi - R.I.P. Winn-Dixie #1513 (1991-2024)

I've recently talked to several people newly exposed to Aldi, and the main trend I've spotted is that the chain is much more effective at stealing the cost-conscious customer away from Walmart than it is at stealing service-minded shoppers away from Publix, Winn-Dixie, or even Food Lion.  Many people in the South have a problem with limited selections, no service departments, buggy rentals, and – gasp self-service grocery bagging, that price alone cannot resolve.

Courtesy Aldi - R.I.P. Winn-Dixie #500 (2001-2024)

While I'm not saying that Aldi doesn't have a place in towns across the Southeast, I am saying that it doesn't have a place in every town across the Southeast.  You don't know how many comments I've read stating that people are adamant they will boycott Aldi if the grocer decides to convert their local Winn-Dixie supermarket; that argument may be dramatic in the moment, but it signals a broader message that Aldi better tread lightly if it doesn't want to alienate a large population.

Courtesy Aldi - R.I.P. Winn-Dixie #1449 (1994-2024)

On a similar note, if Aldi doesn't tread lightly, Florida shoppers are going to pay.  I was personally shocked when I saw a half gallon of milk selling for $3.69 in a South Georgia Publix versus $2.77 in an Atlanta Publix and $2.72 in a Nashville Publix.  That's no coincidence, as I consistently find products in Atlanta and Nashville stores which are significantly cheaper than those found in South Georgia or North Florida supermarkets.  All of these markets have an established presence from Aldi & Walmart, so that does not seem to be a factor.

Courtesy Aldi - R.I.P. Harveys #1689 (1987-2024) - Former Winn-Dixie #89

It doesn't take a rocket science degree to realize that Kroger is putting significant price pressure on Publix, all while Winn-Dixie and Food Lion seem to be less of a threat.  Imagine what would happen if even more direct, full-service competition disappeared . . . I love Publix, but I realize that they still need to be kept in "chek".  I guess higher prices at Publix could be just what Aldi is going for.

Courtesy Aldi - R.I.P. Winn-Dixie #2354 (1997-2025)

Add to that the fact that most Publix territories, except for Florida, allow for 1/2 BOGOs (where sale items are priced as 50% off rather than requiring the purchase of two items to get the special price), which exacerbates the pricing problem down south.

Courtesy Aldi - R.I.P. Winn-Dixie #1590 (1998 - 2024)

The outlier in my unscientific milk survey is the Montgomery area.  Publix' competition here closely resembles that of Florida in that the major players are Winn-Dixie, Walmart, Target, Aldi, along with some various & sundry independents.  The difference, though, is that the milk price matches Atlanta which has the added threats of Kroger, Sprouts, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Ingles, Food Depot, and so on.  Are Winn-Dixie, Walmart, & Aldi stronger players in Alabama than in Florida, or are other factors at play here?  I earnestly don't know.

Courtesy Aldi - R.I.P. Winn-Dixie #67 (2014-2024) - Former Food Lion

What I do know is that things look much different than they did this time last year.  Back when the deal closed, the press release stated that, "a significant number of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets will convert to the ALDI format over the next several years.  Starting mid-summer, ALDI will begin a phased approach to the store conversion process.  ALDI anticipates that approximately 50 stores will begin the conversion process during the latter half of 2024, with the majority of these stores reopening as ALDI in 2025.  As announced last August [2023], ALDI intends for a meaningful amount of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets to continue to operate under their current banners."

Courtesy Aldi - R.I.P. Winn-Dixie #184 (1994-2024)

It turns out that "approximately 50 stores" evolved into approximately 90 stores selected to convert before the end of 2024.  Furthermore, these 90 locations don't all appear to be struggling stores like #579 in Auburn was.  Everything from the transformational flagships of the last decade to brand new stores from three years ago have been pushed aside to make way for Aldi.

Courtesy Aldi - R.I.P Winn-Dixie #2433 (2014-2024) - Former Kash n' Karry

This year past year has certainly been full of surprises, and I expect 2025 to be much the same.  I'll close out this portion of the post with a comment I read the other day (I attempted to format the way the author intended).  I have no clue whether or not it has any merit, but it made me think nonetheless.

Anonymous - January 9, 2025 at 9:50 AM

From what I’ve been told Aldi has no intentions of running SEG long term.  They want to convert as many stores as possible, but they don’t want to saddle the new Aldi’s with paying for the whole space, making the new Aldi’s less profitable.  They would rather SEG take the hit in profitability.

Store conversions if/when going forward depends on:

1. Is the building owned or leased? 
  • If owned, is it stand alone or Plaza? 
    • If stand alone, is the location a prime location? 
      • No, likely sell. 
      • Yes or plaza, Convert
 2. Rented
  • Is it a stand alone or plaza? 
    • Stand alone:  
      • Sell or let lease expire, unless it is a prime location. 
    • Plaza:  
      • Can the lease be broken and a [sic] new leases made for the reduced footprint?  Sticking the landlord with finding a tenant for the unused half.
      • If not, does the leases [sic] allow for subleasing?
        • Yes:  find a tenant for unused space.
        • No:  Sell or Wait for lease to expire and try to negotiate a lease for wanted space

Only time will tell what happens to what's left of Winn-Dixie during its centennial year, but as always, we'll be here to report on it.  It may be saddening that some of our best-case scenarios obviously won't pan out; we can only hope that there is still a small chance of the storied brand living on in one form or another.  I suppose we'll just have to stay tuned.

- The Sing Oil Blogger


Keep on reading to reflect on all of this year's notable events regarding AL-DIxie 


A few headlines from this year include:

Southeastern Grocers sells off Winn-Dixie's former Edgewood Avenue headquarters, squashing rumors that the grocer would downsize there from its current Prominence Parkway space.

Other than the rumors I heard suggesting that Southeastern Grocers may leave its current HQ, it does not surprise me that Aldi is trying to "trim the (beef) fat" by selling off underutilized real estate assets.  This is similar to how several surplus equipment auctions have popped up, including one taking place in a former store which closed back in 2019.

Several Winn-Dixie liquor stores will continue to operate despite the adjacent supermarket closing to convert to Aldi. 

This headline is the perfect example of how none of us knew what to expect after this sale closed.  For reasons unknown, Aldi appears poised to preserve the Winn-Dixie Wine & Spirits branding on several liquor stores during and after the Aldi conversion process.  I witnessed this firsthand when I stopped by Winn-Dixie Liquors #505 in Panama City Beach several months ago.  Despite the adjacent supermarket being closed, all of the liquor store employees continued to don Winn-Dixie uniforms, and registers still printed Winn-Dixie coupons for food stuffs.

Winn-Dixie Liquors #505 / R.I.P. Winn-Dixie #488 (1994-2024) - October 2024

Jacksonville-area conversion candidates lack any mention of Aldi on store closure marketing materials.

Despite Aldi not being shy about most "chosen" Winn-Dixie stores' fate in their final days, locations in the Jacksonville area have seemingly lacked any Aldi branding on store closing signage and pamphlets.  One could argue that this is due to there being a plethora of other "Winning" options in the area; however, the same argument could be said about Tampa / St. Petersburg.  Is there still a small sense of hometown pride at play?

Courtesy Kyle H. - R.I.P. Winn-Dixie #70 (2014-2024)

Fresco y Más stores continue to sell Southeastern Grocers store brand items and use SEG corporate resources despite being "spun off".

Several close correspondents have reported that FyM continues to stock Southeastern Grocers items in its stores, while the Hispanic-oriented grocer continues to use SEG branding assets, marketing materials, and website & customer service resources.

The Know & Love private label continues to expand, even launching its own selection of wines.

Why is Southeastern Grocers continuing to expand the Know & Love brand despite seemingly living on borrowed time?  It would be one thing if Know & Love was poised to replace the SEG brand outright in stores; however, there continue to be SEG-branded products which receive packaging updates.

Winn-Dixie #84 (1987 - Present) - October 2024

Winn-Dixie still does not know how spell "poblano".

It began as a joke one day when the Sing Oil Sidekick pointed out how one Winn-Dixie tagged poblano peppers as "pablano peppers".  It wasn't long before we realized that the problem was endemic across the chain.  As we enter into 2025, the Floridian supermarket still has not fixed this clerical error, and it is likely that it will end up dying with the brand.  Take a look for yourself next time you walk the aisles of the produce department!

Winn-Dixie #428 (1980 - Present) - May 2024

Reflecting on some questions I asked back in March 2024, let's see what answers we have now:

Will smaller towns like Monticello, FL, which don't have any sizable competition, see a conversion?

So far, this has been a tossup.  With the exceptions of #2229 in Marion Oaks, FL, or possibly #2367 in Micco, FL, most converted locations at least have a Walmart or other full-service grocery store within a few miles.  Towns like Madison and Monticello, FL, where Winn-Dixie is the only chain grocer in town, have been spared thus far.

Will Harveys stores in towns like Americus that also have a Food Lion be spared?

Nope!  Notably, Americus is one of only two Harveys stores to convert thus far (Although I've heard rumors that Cordele, GA, may be the third).  While I'm not entirely surprised to see it go, I'm still surprised that no other Harveys locations have been touched (not even the pitifully converted former Winn-Dixie stores in Florida).  Eastman and Swainsboro, GA, may be too small for Aldi's taste; however, Douglas, GA, still has two Harveys stores and even gained a Publix last year.  I really have to wonder why former Sweetbay stores seem more desirable than former Harveys stores.  Maybe the small-town Harveys are just too profitable to give up!

Is the presence of a Marketplace interior the death wish for a Winn-Dixie?

In some cases, yes.  Over the last year, we have lost:

#0509 | Chelsea, AL
#0579 | Auburn, AL
#0609 | Avon Park, FL
#0169 | Bainbridge, GA
#1513 | D'Iberville, MS
#0184 | Quincy, FL

Meanwhile, the following remain (for now):

#2342 | DeLand, FL
#0478 | Eufaula, AL
#0496 | Jasper, AL
#0580 | Theodore, AL
#0210 | Tamarac, FL

While losing over half of the remaining Marketplace stores may seem like a lot, I'm really surprised that more didn't make the cut.  The fact that these stores haven't been remodeled in 20+ years means they were either high performers and didn't need in investment to boost sales, or they were right on the cusp of profitability, yet weren't bad enough to sell. 

Courtesy Aldi - R.I.P. Winn-Dixie #169 (1989-2024)

I've heard specifically that Bainbridge was in that latter category and that Publix has been waiting on Winn-Dixie to close for nearly a decade to enter the market.  Both of those things came true in 2024, I'm just not sure if one ultimately decided the other.  As we'll see eventually, Bainbridge was also an old store in a less-than-ideal part of town, so I'd imagine that sales were down for years.

For the last part of this post, I wanted to ask my peers what they have learned since this process began.  Here is how they replied:

Kyle H.

I've learned that Aldi doesn't have any preference for where they put stores. Plazas, standalone buildings, places where there's no other shopping options, if it's new construction, or if it's 50-60 years old. Another thing I've found out is that sadly, a lot of the things from the initial thoughts post didn't end up happening. There would be no larger Aldi stores because of this, and there seems to be no desire to preserve the Winn Dixie brand, and especially Harvey's.

The Sing Oil Blogger

I've learned that Aldi simply does not care about Winn-Dixie, and seems to be content to passively let the company wither away.  It has become clear that Aldi simply wanted these stores for their real estate and saw this deal as the easiest path to expansion in the Southeast, regardless of the consequences.

The Sing Oil Sidekick

I've learned that SEG private label products continue to be refreshed or rolled out (looking at you, Know and Love) post acquisition. I do wonder why Aldi would continue to expend resources on dying brands and products. I hope they'll preserve Chek Soda; they have quite a variety of flavors, and their Chek Cola is the closest private label Coke knockoff I've ever tasted. They even have a knockoff "Mexican Coke" A.K.A. Chek Cola Made With Real Sugar. Other favorites of mine include their blue raspberry, mango, and Diet Freshy (a Fresca dupe) sodas which make great cocktail mixers. Only time will tell if I can continue getting my sugar fix and cocktail ingredients from the Chek Soda aisle.

AFB

At the start of this I thought Aldi had a chance to broaden its appeal in the Southeast by prototyping new concepts like a Winn-Dixie with an Aldi "store within a store" department that could have proved fruitful in a mutual way, and possibly even helped Winn-Dixie's pricing image. Sadly, it turned out Aldi was nothing more than a predator seeking real estate in a market they really wanted to expand in. What bothers me the most about all this is Winn-Dixie was really was turning itself around in the 2020-2022 timeframe, possibly the start of small but meaningful progress to creating a stronger chain that could really take on Publix. With Aldi now in the picture, I feel like everything Winn-Dixie did to rebuild itself from the 2018 bankruptcy to now was a total waste considering Aldi's apparent endgame and disregard for all of that. Why let Winn-Dixie try to turn itself around if the private equity ownership just wanted out and would sell to anyone? Why dump millions of dollars into new stores and remodels just to sell out to a new owner that could care less about any of that? I'm sad and quite disgusted at what I'm seeing unfold, and living in an area that's losing a number of Winn-Dixies as part of this deal, it means less grocery options for me all around.

Retell Retell

For me I think the liquor stores being kept and the potential of maybe adding Aldi branded ones elsewhere was quite interesting.

Charles Burgess

When the news of the Aldi buyout was first announced, I had a feeling this would be solely a real estate transaction. Many of my former WD co-workers told me I was wrong but, unfortunately, Aldi proved me right. I have been shocked at the lack of communication between Aldi and SEG employees. I'm also disappointed to see the way the employees are treated in the stores that are converted. Neither Aldi nor SEG seem to care about the future of their staff. It is crazy to see Aldi is doing the same thing to SEG as SEG did to Sweetbay, Harveys, Reids, and Bi-Lo. My prediction is this Aldi/SEG marriage will not end "happily ever after" for either party. WD and Harveys will be left for dead and Aldi will be saddled with undesirable locations. Aldi has enough cash that they probably won't even care. Every supermarket analyst predicted WD would be the ruination of their own business. No one could have predicted Aldi would be the one to drive the last few nails in the coffin.

 

P.S. Since several of you have mentioned the annoyances of Blogger's handling of 300+ comments on the Rolling List post, feel free to leave any future relevant comments here instead. Don't worry, the comment field on that post will remain open as well.

Close a Store Once, Shame on Winn-Dixie; Close a Store Twice, Shame on Aldi

Photo courtesy of Google Streetview

Winn-Dixie #288 / Winn-Dixie #213 / Future Aldi #213
5060 Seminole Pratt Whitney Road, Westlake, FL - Grove Marketplace

Today's post is a presentation of Palm Beach County retail

     A new year is upon us, and that means another year of Winn-Dixie to Aldi conversions to cover (sadly). As we enter 2025, we're inching ever so close to 100 total conversions across the chain as Winn-Dixie enters its centennial year, a pivotal year that could possibly give us answers about the chain's future (and if there will even be one too). While a number of the stores Aldi has chosen for conversion have been painful to see close (like the company's Tampa flagship), the store we'll be touring today (which actually closes the same day this post goes live - 1/12/2025) is up there on the list of painful closures as well - one of the top 3 on that list (so far) if I had to rank them. Not only was this store barely 3 years old when it closed (which is a sad fact in its own right), this will mark the second time this store has closed as a Winn-Dixie too. While the second closure of this store probably stings a bit more than the first one, we'll take some time to talk about both incarnations of Winn-Dixie at this site and how the company's grand plans for western Palm Beach County were foiled not once, but twice:


    May 20, 1999 was a big day for Winn-Dixie in Palm Beach County. On that day, the company had planned to open 3 new Marketplace stores simultaneously across the county - two in West Palm Beach (Palm Coast Plaza and Cross County Plaza - both replacements for older stores nearby), with the third store being a completely brand new location in the western part of the county in Loxahatchee (although the portion of then-unincorporated Loxahatchee in which the store was built is now part of the City of Westlake).


     Upon its opening in May 1999, the new Loxahatchee Winn-Dixie was the first supermarket to serve that semi-rural portion of the county, located in close proximity to a large development known as The Acreage. The goal of this new Winn-Dixie was to save residents in the area a trip into neighboring Royal Palm Beach for groceries, a good 8-mile drive to the east. In the late 1990's, western Palm Beach County was experiencing a development boom, particularly in Royal Palm Beach and Wellington, with some of that growth spilling over in the neighboring rural communities of Loxahatchee and The Acreage where this store was built. As we'll see in a moment, Winn-Dixie built this store banking on the population of the area exploding in the coming years, as for much of this store's original run, the placement of Winn-Dixie #288 was certainly odd.

Photo courtesy of a really old real estate listing

     Winn-Dixie #288 was a pretty average late 1990's "Food Pavilion" store, with all 3 of the stores Winn-Dixie opened on that day in May 1999 being copies of each other (minus some exterior modifications, like #288's alternate signage placement compared to Palm Coast Plaza's more standard signage seen in the news clipping a few photos back). Overall, Winn-Dixie #288 and its accompanying shopping center, Grove Marketplace, adopted a light "Old Florida" architectural style, hailing from its construction in the middle of an orange grove. That's not a figure of speech either - this store really was built right in the middle of an orange grove:


     I had to include this aerial image of what surrounded Winn-Dixie #288 for its entire 11 years in operation, as seeing a modern shopping center in the middle of a field with nothing around it but orange trees always intrigued me. The Winn-Dixie shopping center site was sold off from the surrounding Callery-Judge Groves, who controlled this undeveloped swatch of 3,800 acres in the middle of The Acreage. The owners of the groves seemed to be moving in the direction of selling out entirely to a developer as we entered the 2000's and the land increased in value (hence selling part of the land for the new Winn-Dixie), however, the Great Recession happened and those plans ended up being put on hold.

The store pictured above is the Palm Coast Plaza Winn-Dixie in West Palm Beach - #288 was never updated to the late 2000's logo like that.

     With Winn-Dixie's financial woes of the mid-2000's hindering the company's growth and the Great Recession of the late 2000's slowing further development in The Acreage, store #288 was in a precarious position. While initially surviving the closure waves of Winn-Dixie's 2005 bankruptcy (probably due to the company's thoughts of this area blossoming in new growth in the coming years), the lack of further development in the area come the late 2000's was probably the final straw for this store. In 2010, this store was included in a closure wave that took out an additional 30 Winn-Dixie stores throughout the Southeast, including 8 other stores in Palm Beach County alone. Those stores all closed by September 2010, at which time this store was left to sit empty.


     Other than serving as an unregulated parking area for students at the high school down the street, this building would spend the next 12 years waiting for something to happen with the land around it, something to attract a new anchor to this isolated strip. As the building lulls of the recession began to wane in the mid-2010's, developer Minto Homes purchased the 3,800 acres of citrus grove around this shopping center for $51 million in 2016, incorporating the land as the new City of Westlake later that same year. Shortly after the incorporation of Florida's newest city (a title Westlake still holds in 2025), development of new businesses and homes around this shopping center began, bringing back hope that something would eventually happen with this old Winn-Dixie shell as thousands of new homes began to sprout around it.


     I paid a visit to Westlake in 2020, when the former Winn-Dixie was still vacant and when Westlake was still looking a bit sparse retail-wise (something that's changed quite a bit in the last few years since my visit, as the developer continues to work toward the originally planned 2,000,000 square feet of commercial space in town). I took a quick look around the old store, although with the windows covered with hurricane shutters, all I was able to get was a quick tour of the exterior. Still, it's a nice general overview of what this store looked like for its first 11 years as a Winn-Dixie - a pretty standard Food Pavilion build.


     While we can't see inside, I'm about 99.9% sure this store retained its original Marketplace decor for its entire 11 years in business. While there may have been some of Winn-Dixie's interim early 2000's modifications happening inside as the Food Pavilion's vast offerings were discontinued through the years, I'm sure the walls retained that classic Marketplace decor that is practically ingrained in most people's minds when they think of Winn-Dixie.


     These last few photos were taken along the store's front walkway, looking toward the sealed-tight entrance along the silent front corridor. While a few of the small businesses in this strip were still occupied well after Winn-Dixie's first closure, the plaza just felt quiet all around.


     While Winn-Dixie's Marketplace stores were mostly cookie-cutter architecturally, the extra accents on this building like the lattice and metal awnings made this building seem classier than a more stereotypical version of this design.


     Winn-Dixie's entrance sign also remained in-tact following this store's first closure. Overall, that sign gets forgotten quite a bit in conversions of old Winn-Dixie stores, and I've seen that Entrance sign still hanging around at Winn-Dixies that closed back in the 1990's! However, that sign wasn't lucky enough to survive into Winn-Dixie v2, but that was probably for the best during a time when the company was trying to associate shoppers with its modernized look.


      Knowing that construction in Westlake was about to balloon following my visit, I was glad I visited this store when I did, as I knew something would end up moving in here before too long. Would it be a new Sprouts? A new TJMaxx/HomeGoods combo? Would Publix come and knock the place down for a new store, wanting to be first grocer in the new development? There were a lot of things I was thinking could happen here back in mid-2020, and Winn-Dixie making a grand return was quite low on that list at the time.


     In June 2021, the (somewhat surprising) news of Winn-Dixie's return to the Grove Marketplace was announced, following the company's submission of a new site plan to the city for a totally overhauled store. Right on the heels of its successful conversion of 8 former Lucky's Market and Earth Fare stores, Winn-Dixie was starting to launch its first new store push in nearly 2 decades, a stunning turn of events for the chain that mostly shrunk since the early 2000's. As part of this plan, Winn-Dixie had stated that "new store openings are forecast at about 10 per year starting in 2022", a year of openings with which the new Westlake store would launch.

Photo courtesy of Winn-Dixie

     Opening on March 2, 2022, the new Westlake Winn-Dixie would end up being one of only 2 completely new stores the company opened that year - not quite the vision of  "about 10 new stores" announced the year prior, but an impressive feat for the company nonetheless with additional new stores in the pipeline for 2023 as well. In addition to the Westlake store, its other new-for-2022 counterpart, the Grand Cypress Winn-Dixie in St. Johns, would mark the chain's first new ground-up built location in nearly 2 decades. In addition to those totally new stores, Winn-Dixie opened 17 new liquor stores in 2022 and remodeled 51 existing stores per the yearly recap press release. If you read that press release, you really get a sense that 2022 was an exciting year for Winn-Dixie - heck, I was excited for Winn-Dixie in 2022 as well! I thought the company was on the heels of one of the greatest comeback stories in supermarket history after seeing all that happened for Winn-Dixie that year. It's too bad that come 2023, the first bits of the company's suicide mission would start to leak when a certain announcement was made that August.


    Before we get back to the sad reality, I just wanted to take a moment to showcase just how much had changed around this store between when it first closed in 2010 and when it reopened in 2022. As you can see in the most recent satellite image above, that barren citrus grove is now a bustling town of 7,600 residents, not counting folks in the growing areas of The Acreage and Loxahatchee surrounding it. Directly across the street from the Winn-Dixie plaza is Westlake's new Publix store, which opened in June 2023. Probably for the first time since the 1980's, Winn-Dixie actually beat Publix with being the first supermarket to open in a new Floridian mega-development, by over a year too (and not even counting the original store's run). With new Floridian developments, usually it's a random Publix in the middle of a field waiting for the residents to arrive, not a Winn-Dixie! Winn-Dixie seemed to be in a great position here in Westlake, however, the company's German raiders thought this was a great location in a new development too, and wanted it all for themselves (even though there's ample room all over the place in Westlake for a newbuild Aldi).

Photo courtesy of Winn-Dixie

     Like its other new-for-2022 counterpart in Grand Cypress, the Westlake Winn-Dixie will be unceremoniously cut apart and chopped up for a new Aldi after barely 3 years in business - talk about a total waste! Situations like what we're seeing here in Westlake (and also in Grand Cypress) make me wonder why Winn-Dixie even tried doing anything to turn themselves around these last few years at all. Why dump millions into new stores just for Aldi to close them and put a store of their own there? However, I've given that rant before so I'll spare everyone now, but you can certainly tell I'm not a fan of this whole situation! (And from what I've seen elsewhere online, more people seem to be angry about losing their Winn-Dixies for an Aldi than the opposite case, so I'm justified here!)

Photo courtesy of blu 230 on Google Maps

     Unfortunately, I wasn't able to pay a visit to the new Winn-Dixie #213 before it closed, so the final portion of this post will involve me cheating a bit and recycling some photos that were posted to Google Maps of the new store. Much to my amazement, the people of Google, combined with the photos Winn-Dixie themselves posted to Facebook from this store's grand opening, create a comprehensive tour of this store that looks like a photoshoot of my own. Typically Google Maps photos are a mish-mash of random shots that almost never completely capture a store (and are sometimes taken at weird angles), so everything worked out here in my absence at least!

Photo courtesy of Winn-Dixie

     While I didn't make it to this store specifically, I have been to two other near-identical copies of what we're about to see here today. While those other two stores had a few minor differences, they all followed the same vision Winn-Dixie had for what a store of the 2020's would look like. We begin by entering the store and turning to the right for a look at the produce department, looking quite pristine in this grand opening day shot.

Photo courtesy of Winn-Dixie

     Winn-Dixie wishes us a warm hello, while Aldi waves us a cold good-bye in Westlake.

Photo courtesy of Winn-Dixie

     Following produce on the right side wall is the deli, along with its prepared foods counterpart The Kitchen.

Photo courtesy of Robert H on Google Maps

     The Kitchen at this store included a hot food and salad bar, in addition to the usual offerings of pre-made sandwiches and chicken wings at the counter.

Photo courtesy of Robert H on Google Maps

     Here's the thwing - this store is now closing, so you now have to go across the street to Publix for chicken wing dinner special as the only wings Aldi sells are raw!

Photo courtesy of Robert H on Google Maps

     For being a repurposed building, you'd be hard-pressed to believe this was once a 1990's Winn-Dixie Marketplace we're standing in. The concrete floors weren't scarred at all, and the entire building was stripped to the bare walls and rebuilt to match the new prototype exactly. Nothing about this store's layout is a carryover from the Marketplace days.

Photo courtesy of Robert H on Google Maps

     From near the back, here's an overview of the store's grand aisle. While I said earlier this tour was mostly comprehensive, it looks like the one department the people of Google let me down on photographing was the bakery. Anyway, it wasn't a tragic loss, as the bakery is located next to the deli at the end of the right wall, and looks mostly identical to the deli in design.

Photo courtesy of Robert H on Google Maps

     Beyond the bakery, at the end of the grand aisle is the beer & wine department, presented in a little alcove of its own in the back right corner of the salesfloor.

Photo courtesy of Hollie R on Google Maps

     Beer and wine occupies the first portion of the back wall, after which we transition to meats:

Photo courtesy of Robert H on Google Maps

     Turning around, here's a look at the butcher service counter, with the meat coolers just beyond. The Beef People, get ready to meat Die Rindfleischleute!

Photo courtesy of blu 230 on Google Maps

     Moving further along the back wall, here's another look at the meat department, as seen from the left side of the store this time.

Photo courtesy of blu 230 on Google Maps - that user must be an Aisle 12 fan

     Like many of the other stores Winn-Dixie has reopened throughout the years, I'd have to imagine Winn-Dixie was holding onto this building's lease the entire time the store was closed. Seeing the new development finally gaining traction in the area, I don't blame Winn-Dixie for reopening this store and trying to one-up Publix in this new development. The new store turned out really nice, and it's a shame it wasn't allowed to be given the chance it deserved.

Photo courtesy of Hollie R on Google Maps

     As we near the left side of the store, the heavy duty meats like steak and chicken shift to their more portable and easy to snack on Lunch Meat counterparts. Following that, entering the back left corner of the store we encounter dairy, although more specifically, the milk coolers (which got their own sign too).

Photo courtesy of Robert H on Google Maps

     The last two aisles of this store (numbers 14 and 15) are home to frozen foods, with the remainder of the dairy department on the left wall in aisle 15 as well.

Photo courtesy of Robert H on Google Maps

     Aisle 15 once again, just turned to look toward the front of the store instead of the back.

Photo courtesy of Winn-Dixie

     One of the most interesting parts about the new Westlake Winn-Dixie was that it was the only one of Winn-Dixie's new stores from the 2020-2023 timeframe to include a pharmacy. Ever since Winn-Dixie's mass purge of pharmacies in 2016, it seemed like running a full pharmacy counter was a bit of an afterthought for the company. Seeing almost all of the recent new stores open without a pharmacy seemed to reinforce that, although the existing pharmacies must have been holding their own to a degree, as some received elaborate updates in the stores that remodeled to Winn Win (like new consultation areas). Given the current economic conditions surrounding pharmacies and insurance regulations, as well as seeing other supermarket chains scale back on or totally get out of pharmacies all together in recent years (like Schnucks and ShopRite), I wonder if Winn-Dixie would have continued to hold out on operating pharmacies had Aldi not come into the picture, or if they all would have closed anyway (or been sold to CVS or Walgreens for a Target-like pharmacy situation). Winn-Dixie only had 200-ish pharmacies left when they were all closed in late 2023, which isn't quite the scale the big pharmacy chains (or Publix) have to offset the insurance losses plaguing pharmacies these days, so it would have been interesting to see what could have been.

Photo courtesy of Robert H on Google Maps

     We'll wrap up our interior tour of this store with some photos of the store's center aisle. While we'll get some nice views across the store here, you can also enjoy the symmetry these angles provide.

Photo courtesy of Robert H on Google Maps

     At least the people who designed this store managed to get the dairy sign to line up perfectly with the center aisle, even if the sign for The Kitchen was off by just a bit.

Photo courtesy of Robert H on Google Maps

      Say what you will about concrete floors, but at least these are shiny and free of any Kroger-esque scarring!

Photo courtesy of Miss IDGAF on Google Maps - coincidentally, her screen name also reflects Aldi's attitude toward Winn-Dixie too

     This final exterior photo of the store from grand opening day will complete our tour of this ill-fated Winn-Dixie, a dream crushed by corporate greed. And speaking of corporate greed, let's take a quick look at what the future of this building holds:

Photo courtesy of the Westlake Wanderer

     A modern 2020's Winn-Dixie store doesn't make for a bad looking Aldi, at least, although I'd have much rather seen this store stay a Winn-Dixie. While the Aldi sign wasn't included in the drawing above, Aldi's entrance will line up with Winn-Dixie's old entryway. The Winn-Dixie liquor store in Westlake will also close with the store it appears, as it's tucked into the left corner and would block the space behind it from any new tenant that would want that slice of the building. While the facade elevation doesn't look too out of the ordinary from what we've seen lately, this store's subdivision is actually a bit different than most of the others:

Photo courtesy of the Westlake Wanderer

     Instead of taking either the left or right half of the building, Aldi is taking the center of it, leaving an odd corridor in the back to access the loading dock on the left side of the building. The subdivision of this building seems fairly reminiscent of what we saw Aldi do at the old Brandon Albertsons we toured on AFB recently, with two empty wedges on either side of the Aldi - one slightly larger than the other. I guess if it's any consolation, at least Westlake now has that Publix across the street to fill the full-service gap left behind by Winn-Dixie, but Publix also has another store 2.5 miles north of here too, so it still becomes one less option and less competition altogether. The next closest Winn-Dixie to Westlake is the 1980's-era Royal Palm Beach store, which is 8 miles east of here, with two additional Publix stores you'd potentially drive by on the way to that Winn-Dixie too. As you can see, Aldi buying Winn-Dixie hasn't helped the grocery situation in Florida at all, just reducing competition by shrinking Winn-Dixie even more. Anyway, the year is young, and we'll have to see what the coming months deal out for Winn-Dixie's fate in its 100th year. Even in the chain's current situation, I'd like to see some acknowledgement of the occasion at least, as long as it's not a celebratory going out of business sale. Your Southeastern Retail Bloggers will be sure to keep you updated on the latest news out of Winn-Dixie as the year progresses, and I know I have plenty more to share on conversions as well as other fun Winn-Dixie stores to showcase in the year ahead too. As always, MFR will continue to be your one-stop shop for the latest on store conversion news with our comprehensive list (which you can see here), as well as our all new 2024 AL-Dixie recap. I'll be popping in with new MFR content of my own on occasion too, but if you're looking for new content sooner rather than later, posting on AFB resumes next Sunday as well, so be sure to come back for that too!

So until the next post,

AFB