Aldi is buying 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys supermarkets
Grocery shoppers in the Southeast can expect to see more Aldi stores starting 2024.
The German supermarket giant is acquiring Winn-Dixie and other grocery stores in the Southeast in a move to increase its presence in the region, the company announced Wednesday. Some of the nearly 400 Winn-Dixie locations Aldi is acquiring will keep the familiar red-and-white Winn-Dixie branding and traditional store layout.
Aldi will be converting a “significant amount” of Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores to its bare-bones store format over the coming years, CEO Jason Hart said to CNN.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2024 and is pending regulatory approval.
It’s part of Aldi’s long term plan to expand across the US – it previously announced it is opening 120 new stores with a goal of 2,400 stores by the end of 2024.
“The Southeast is a big part of our growth initiative across the country,” Hart said. “In fact, it [was] a focus of our growth initiative even before this acquisition — so it was the perfect kind of confluence of factors.”
Hart added that the acquisition could also serve as a real estate leasing opportunity for Aldi, as the stores require only about half the square footage of traditional grocery stores.
Aldi emerged as a winner during a period of inflated food prices as customers looked for cheaper options.
Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket had long been staples in the Southeast region. But for years, the grocery chains and its parent company have been plagued by financial difficulties. In 2018, Southeastern Grocers said that it planned to file for bankruptcy and close 94 stores. Winn-Dixie shuttered about a third of its 900 stores in 2005 and laid off almost 30% of its staff.
Grocery shoppers in the Southeast can expect to see more Aldi stores starting 2024. The German supermarket giant is acquiring Winn-Dixie and other grocery stores in the Southeast in a move to increase its presence in the region, the company announced Wednesday. Some of the nearly 400 Winn-Dixie locations Aldi is acquiring will keep the…