Food Lion plans to reopen the chain’s final five Georgia stores under its own name. Metro Atlanta lost its Winn-Dixie stores during the grocer’s 2005 bankruptcy restructuring.
By Miles J. Edwards | A.T.L. N.E.W.S. Georgia Bureau
ATLANTA — Winn-Dixie has agreed to sell its last five Georgia supermarkets to Food Lion, a deal that would end the grocer’s presence in the state more than two decades after it pulled out of metro Atlanta. The stores are in Brunswick, Folkston, Lake Park, St. Simons Island and Valdosta.
The supermarkets will continue operating as Winn-Dixie until the sale closes. Food Lion plans to shut them briefly for remodeling and reopen them in mid-December, subject to completion of the transaction. The company expects to hire about 375 employees across the five stores. It has yet to announce individual reopening dates or say how many jobs it expects to fill with current Winn-Dixie workers.
When Winn-Dixie left metro Atlanta
Atlanta’s exit came in 2005, when Winn-Dixie announced it would withdraw from 14 markets during its bankruptcy restructuring. The plan called for the company to sell or close stores and give up its Atlanta distribution center. Augusta and Savannah were also among the markets the company said it would leave.
In DeKalb County, the Georgia Department of Labor identified seven stores slated to close unless buyers could be found. They included locations on Candler Road and Church Street in Decatur, Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Chamblee, and stores in Lithonia and Stone Mountain. The state identified six more locations in Gwinnett County, including stores in Lawrenceville, Lilburn and Norcross. At the time, the department said the restructuring could affect more than 5,000 Winn-Dixie and SaveRite workers across Georgia.
Winn-Dixie had once held about 20 percent of Atlanta’s grocery market. A Georgia Tech study found that its share fell to 13 percent between 1993 and 1996, as Publix gained ground after entering the market. By 2005, Publix held about 26 percent of the market and Walmart held about 18 percent. Winn-Dixie’s departure came as fewer chains accounted for a growing share of metro Atlanta’s grocery sales.
Food Lion expands as Winn-Dixie concentrates on Florida
Winn-Dixie says the sale will let it put more resources into Florida, where it expects to operate more than 120 grocery stores and more than 100 liquor stores after the deal. For shoppers in the five South Georgia communities, Food Lion’s plan means the same addresses are expected to remain grocery stores after a short break. For metro Atlanta, the sale closes the statewide chapter of a chain that left the local market in 2005.
