Winn-Dixie’s Phenix City store gets fresh look as chain rolls out lower pricing
The same day it unveiled a companywide price-cutting campaign, Winn-Dixie management and staff on Wednesday were putting the finishing touches on a major remodel of its supermarket in the Ladonia area of west Phenix City.
A ribbon-cutting will take place at 9 a.m. EST Thursday at the 3952 U.S. Highway 80 store, with Ian McLeod, president and chief executive officer of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Southeastern Grocers welcoming customers and community leaders to check out the fresh look and new pricing.
Southeastern Grocers, headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., is the parent company of grocery chains Winn-Dixie, BI-LO and Harveys. The company operates 756 stores in seven states, including 518 with the Winn-Dixie brand and 145 liquor stores.
“I’ve worked in grocery retailing pretty much all of my career and I’ve worked in a number of different countries as well, and what I find is that regardless of which country you’re in, customers are looking for the same thing,” McLeod said Wednesday during a tour of the Phenix City store.
“They want a great assortment. They want good service,” he said. “But most important of all, they want good quality product, including good fresh produce, and they want good prices. Regardless of where you go, those four things remain strong in a customer’s mind.”
Southeastern Grocers spent about $1 million on the remodel of the 15-year-old Phenix City store, according to city building permits. It is the first location in the entire chain to receive the new design under McLeod, who was hired nearly a year ago to put the company on sturdier financial footing.
“We hope to have around about 50 of these on the ground this time next year,” said the CEO, noting the grocery outfit refreshed just seven stores in 2015 under a previous renovation program.
The company wrapped up a remodel of its 6770 Veterans Parkway location in Columbus in May 2014, also spending about $1 million on that project. It has three other stores in Columbus, having closed the South Lumpkin Road location in late 2014.
Along with fresh signage and interior design colors, the Phenix City improvements include an updated produce department, an improved seafood department, a new deli with hot food items, including a wing bar, and a renovated pharmacy area.
“It’s been completely redone. We’re real pleased with it,” said Phenix City resident Anne Kimbro while perusing the produce area with husband, David, which they both found to their liking because of increased selection. “It was a nice store before. It just needed updating.”
Revamped supermarket aside, the big buzz Wednesday for McLeod was the introduction of lower pricing on more than 400 products purchased frequently by Winn-Dixie customers. Called “Down Down,” it follows the company’s move last year to slice prices on more than 3,000 items.
The CEO pointed to Sanderson Farms fresh chicken breasts (from $4 to $2.50 a pound) and loaves of bread (from $1.99 to $1 for the Winn-Dixie brand) as good examples of the newest price cuts. Winn-Dixie brand orange juice, crinkle-cut fries and shredded cheddar cheese also are among the basic foods that will cost consumers less at the cash register.
McLeod said those prices will remain in effect for at least six months.
“We know that almost one in five people in the Southeast are relying on food subsidies to feed their families every week,” he said, citing estimates that a family could save on average more than $700 a year at the supermarket because of Winn-Dixie’s reduced pricing.
This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 7:59 PM with the headline "Winn-Dixie’s Phenix City store gets fresh look as chain rolls out lower pricing ."