{"id":305,"date":"2011-10-10T15:17:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-10T19:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom.chainstoreguide.com\/2011\/10\/a-changing-of-the-tide-at-winn-dixie\/"},"modified":"2011-10-10T15:17:00","modified_gmt":"2011-10-10T19:17:00","slug":"a-changing-of-the-tide-at-winn-dixie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/2011\/10\/a-changing-of-the-tide-at-winn-dixie\/","title":{"rendered":"A Changing of the Tide at Winn Dixie?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\" trbidi=\"on\"><\/p>\n<div><b><u><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\"><br \/><\/span><\/u><\/b><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\">Since filing for bankruptcy protection in 2005, Winn-Dixie has gone through numerous changes to repair its tarnished image and balance sheets.\u00a0 Two recent store developments this year marked a transformational period for the grocery retailer: <\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<ul style=\"margin-top: 0in;\" type=\"disc\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\">In      August 2011, Winn-Dixie announced that it will convert all      SaveRite-branded grocery stores to conventional Winn-Dixie-branded stores      and discontinue the SaveRite banner. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"margin-left: .25in;\"><\/div>\n<ul style=\"margin-top: 0in;\" type=\"disc\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\">Earier      this year, the company opened a new store in <st1:state w:st=\"on\"><st1:place w:st=\"on\">Florida<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, its home state, which was its      first since 2004. The Winn-Dixie in <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:city w:st=\"on\">Margate<\/st1:city>,       <st1:state w:st=\"on\">FL<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> is the second to feature      the company&#8217;s new prototype design, emphasizing fresh and prepared foods,      and is located in a building that previously housed a Publix supermarket.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\">This new store prototype is the beginning of a $100 million renovation project to more than half of its stores into \u2018Transformational\u2019 models to remain competitive. <st1:state w:st=\"on\"><st1:place w:st=\"on\">Florida<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>\u2019s ultra-competitive grocery market is also home to Publix, which remains king, as well as Delhaize-owned Sweetbay. Walmart has a large presence of Supercenters and Sam\u2019s Clubs in the <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:placename w:st=\"on\">Sunshine<\/st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st=\"on\">State<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>, while Whole Foods and the Fresh Market also compete heavily. \u00a0Even Target\u2019s supercenters in FL have incorporated more grocery offerings, utilizing the company\u2019s \u2018P-Fresh\u2019 concept.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\">This isn\u2019t the first time Winn Dixie has tried to freshen up its stores. Its first step out of bankruptcy was renovating over 230 locations with new equipment and an \u2018overall refresh.\u2019 However, this project appears to be much more than a fresh coat of paint on the buildings. Trendy features such as Wi-Fi, a sushi bar, and chef\u2019s prepared on-the-go hot dinners will appear at a newly renovated location in <st1:place w:st=\"on\"><st1:city w:st=\"on\">Sarasota<\/st1:city>,  <st1:state w:st=\"on\">FL.<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> <\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\">For years, becoming a low-price leader was the company\u2019s goal, and it even resonated in the tagline at various time periods. Buy-one-get-one-free promotional offerings flooded the weekly circular, and sometimes get two frees were offered in the meat department. But Publix also engaged in heavy promotional pricing, and Walmart continued to gain income-strapped customers.\u00a0 This left Winn-Dixie somewhere in the middle and it has showed in yearly performance.\u00a0 Sales for the most recently end fiscal year 6-30-2011 were down to $6.8 billion, a decline from its fiscal 2009 total of $7.3 billion. <\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\">Winn-Dixie\u2019s new initiative to transform its stores into shopping experiences that will rival the likes of Publix and Whole Foods is an effort to change consumer perception on the once bankrupt grocery chain.\u00a0 Coupled with its popular gas rewards program, which gives frequent shoppers incentives at participating stations, it\u2019s undoubtedly the biggest step taken to finally repair its image and thrive in the Southeastern market.\u00a0 No easy task, however, as Publix, Sweetbay and Walmart aren\u2019t staying idle, updating their stores to more modern, luxurious style, and focusing more on higher-tier foods. <\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\"><br \/>So will Winn Dixie\u2019s expensive and ambitious program pay off? Initial results from the first transformed stores have been encouraging, with company officials stating weekly sales at remodeled stores are up about 10 percent.\u00a0 With the \u2018Transformational\u2019 overhaul expected to take place at least 60 percent of Winn Dixie\u2019s store fleet, management appears to be optimistic.\u00a0<\/span><br \/><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\"><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-frHfbAEdjSk\/Tih7nFnnmVI\/AAAAAAAAA8s\/ODNoR8iF_fI\/s1600\/brian-headshot.JPG\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"><img decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-frHfbAEdjSk\/Tih7nFnnmVI\/AAAAAAAAA8s\/ODNoR8iF_fI\/s1600\/brian-headshot.JPG\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><strong>Brian List,<\/strong><em>\u00a0Research Editor\u00a0<\/em><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><br \/>Brian has been with Chain Store Guide since December 2006. He holds a bachelors degree in Marketing Management from Florida Southern College. Please\u00a0<\/span><u><a _fcksavedurl=\"mailto:blist@csgis.com\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/mailto:blist@csgis.com\" style=\"color: #2288bb; text-decoration: none;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial;\">contact him<\/span><\/a><\/u><span style=\"font-family: Arial;\">\u00a0if you have questions or comments.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since filing for bankruptcy protection in 2005, Winn-Dixie has gone through numerous changes to repair its tarnished image and balance sheets.\u00a0 Two recent store developments this year marked a transformational period for the grocery retailer: In August 2011, Winn-Dixie announced that it will convert all SaveRite-branded grocery stores to conventional Winn-Dixie-branded stores and discontinue the&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/2011\/10\/a-changing-of-the-tide-at-winn-dixie\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">A Changing of the Tide at Winn Dixie?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"post-template-no-sidebar.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[6,5],"class_list":["post-305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grocery-convenience","tag-csg-old","tag-insight","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}