Winn-Dixie closing last two stores in Alabama amid restructuring

The last two Winn-Dixie grocery stores in Alabama are set to close by the end of this month.

The grocery store chain is closing locations in a few states as it rebrands to “The Winn-Dixie Company,” and two more will be closed in Birmingham, Alabama.

After more than 60 years serving the city, one location will close on March 21 and the other on March 22, as the company shifts its focus to Florida. The grocer has already acquired three Hitchcock’s Markets in the Sunshine State and plans to open them later this year.

Ahead of the store closures, shoppers will be able to save anywhere from 20 percent to 40 percent off in their closing-down sales.

Winn-Dixie’s parent company, Southeastern Grocers, has already closed stores in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi and sold them off to competing grocery store chains, including Food City, Piggly Wiggly and Aldi.

Discussing the company’s transition, Anthony Hucker, CEO of Southeastern Grocers, outlined why Winn-Dixie is sharpening its focus on Florida.

“For a century, Winn-Dixie has proudly called Florida home,” he said. “As we enter our next century as The Winn-Dixie Company — a brand-new 100-year-old company — we are accelerating growth where our roots run deepest while staying true to our purpose of feeding and enriching the communities, families and neighbors who have supported us for generations.”

The news of the Winn-Dixie closures comes two years after Aldi announced it was buying 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys locations across the Southern part of the United States.

Under the proposed merger agreement at the time, Aldi acquired all outstanding shares of Southeastern Grocers Inc.

Aldi said the deal supports its long-term growth strategy in the U.S., where it expects to have 2,400 stores by the end of this year. The Winn-Dixie and Harveys supermarkets it’s acquiring are primarily in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.

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Aldi said it would convert some locations to its own brand and format, which cuts costs with features like lean inventories and self-bagging. But it will operate some stores under the Winn-Dixie and Harveys brands.

The deal came amid wider consolidation in the grocery industry as customers increasingly defect to big box stores like Walmart, which controls more than 20 percent of U.S. grocery sales.