Company will eliminate 10,000 jobs, close the facilities that do not sell

Friday, April 30, 2004

Bowling Greens Winn-Dixie is one of 111 stores the company plans to sell. Those stores are in 16 markets considered non-core to the company. The company will close outright another 45 stores elsewhere. In all, it will eliminate 10,000 jobs. The company will seek to sell stores as ongoing businesses and anticipates that stores that cannot be sold will be closed, according to a news release from the company. That news release identifies Bowling Green as one of the 16 non-core markets. Winn-Dixie anticipates those sales or closures will happen in the next year. Employees at the Bowling Green store were in a meeting this morning and later referred questions to corporate representatives, who had not returned a phone call by press time. Rumors about what would happen to the store here started circulating two years ago when Winn-Dixie first began streamlining its business. But until you hear it from the horses mouth, you dont know, said Kevin Vincent, the owner of nearby Vincents Bagels & Bites. While some grocery customers may come to the bagel place to pick up a few items, Vincent said even a closure shouldnt affect his business. This store has been here since 1993 and will continue to be here regardless of whether there is a grocery store or not, Vincent said. Mary Alice Oliver, who lives near the store, was shopping this morning and said a potential closure would be inconvenient but not catastrophic. There are things that they have here that I buy all the time, she said, adding that she just made a shopping trip to Kroger, but stopped at Winn-Dixie for those select items. Vicki Gray, who lives just down the road, was unaffected by the news as she shopped this morning. I shop here off and on and I just live down the road, so its convenient, Gray said. I think their prices are a little higher than most places, but they do have some good deals. Theyre really nice and helpful, though. Mark Iverson, chief financial officer for Bowling Green-based Houchens Industries, said he was unaware of the sale of the Winn-Dixie stores. Iverson had no comment when asked if Houchens would be interested in such a purchase. Houchens recently announced a deal to purchase Food Giant stores, adding considerably to its holdings. Winn-Dixie on Friday reported a 5.5 percent decrease in first quarter sales, to $2.7 billion. For the 40 weeks ending March 31, sales were down 5.8 percent for the identical period last year, to $8.9 billion. The sales and closings will leave the Jacksonville-based supermarket chain with 922 stores and about 90,000 employees. This was a difficult decision, but it is a necessary part of our strategic plan to restore Winn-Dixie to consistent profitability, said Frank Lazaran, the companys president and chief executive officer. We will make every effort to ensure a smooth and fair transition for affected (employees). Robyn Minor, Hayli Fellwock, Alicia Carmichael and Christopher Miller of the Daily News contributed information for this article. Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700