TMCnet News
Winn-Dixie supermarket in south Columbus closing after 20-year run [Columbus Ledger-Enquirer](Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (GA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 07--The Winn-Dixie Marketplace in south Columbus, which has sold groceries to area residents for two decades, is closing its doors by Nov. 19, the company confirmed Monday. Winn-Dixie spokeswoman Della Barber said the chain's parent company, BI-LO Holdings, has decided to shutter 23 stores in all after a review of its supermarkets in eight states. She said that represents less than 3 percent of the company's 827 locations operating under the BI-LO, Winn-Dixie and Harveys brands. Winn-Dixie will have five remaining stores in the local market. The others are on Veterans Parkway, Milgen Road, Macon Road and Hunt Avenue in Columbus, with one on U.S. Highway 80 in the Ladonia area of Phenix City. Barber said all of those will remain open. "Obviously, closing underperforming stores is never easy for any retailer," she said. "But we have 25 new and remodeled stores that we plan to open during the remainder of fourth quarter 2014." An employee answering the phone Monday at the 1627 South Lumpkin Road Winn-Dixie store, in River Square Marketplace shopping center, said it had not been profitable for several years. The store employs about a dozen people, the employee said. The 45,000-square-foot grocery store opened its doors in March 1994, at the time offering Winn-Dixie's latest and greatest design. It was hailed as a sign of progress in an area of the city striving for improvements for its residents. It also was the seventh Winn-Dixie in the Columbus market, employing about 200 people full- and part-time. Winn Dixie's departure will leave a large hole at River Square, with it serving as the shopping center's anchor. Other tenants include Cato Fashions, Wing Time, Little Caesars Pizza, Loan South and Teen Challenge Super Thrift Store, which opened in the center recently. A Bank of America branch and Family Dollar store are in the vicinity as well. A MyCare Urgent Care operated in the center by Columbus Regional Health closed a few weeks ago. Owen Ditchfield, a longtime resident of the area and president of the group Concerned Citizens of South Columbus, said he spoke Monday with employees at the South Lumpkin Winn-Dixie. They didn't think its demise had anything do with Walmart planning to open a 158,583-square-foot supercenter nearby on Victory Drive by early 2016. "It was just their (grocery sales) numbers were low and have been," he said. Ditchfield said he isn't really sure what could fill the space at River Square. It could be sub-divided or it might be a good fit for a furniture store, he said, also joking that a Fresh Market outlet would be nice. He thinks the area can absorb the loss of Winn-Dixie, although he was one of those who was very happy to see it and a new Piggly Wiggly supermarket open not far away on South Lumpkin Road. There's also a smaller and older Piggly Wiggly in nearby Heritage Corners shopping center on Victory Drive. "Piggly Wiggly has always been much more popular" in the area, Ditchfield said. "So they'll probably just get more business there." Winn-Dixie has spent money in the Columbus market recently, completing last June a major remodel of its 60,000-square-foot store at 6770 Veterans Parkway on the city's north side. About $1 million was spent on improving portions of the North Columbus Crossing Shopping Center that it co-anchors alongside a Lowe's home improvement store. Jacksonville-based BI-LO Holdings purchased Winn-Dixie in March 2012, and since then has gobbled up the Harveys, Sweetbay and Reid's brands from Delhaize Group. A series of store property sales and acquisitions by BI-LO leaves it with the current total of 827 locations. At the time of the South Lumpkin Winn-Dixie's grand opening 20 years ago, that chain alone had more than 1,150 stores in 13 Southeastern and Southwestern states. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2005 and exited it in 2006, closing a large number of stores leading up to its sale to BI-LO. ___ (c)2014 the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, Ga.) Visit the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, Ga.) at www.ledger-enquirer.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |