Sweetbay Supermarket plans to eliminate 346 jobs, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice issued to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
The Tampa Bay Business Journal reports that most of the affected positions are out of the Plant City distribution center owned by Sweetbay.
Bi-Lo Holdings LLC entered into an agreement earlier in the year to buy Sweetbay and convert the stores to Winn-Dixie stores. This deal did not include Sweetbay headquarters or its distribution center.
The transaction between Bi-Lo and Sweetbay is still pending regulatory approval by the Federal Trade Commission; but with an expectation of the deal going through near the beginning of the year, the company filed the notice at least 60 days in advance, the Journal reports.
BI-LO Holdings is acquiring 72 Sweetbay stores, plus leases for 10 Sweetbay location that closed earlier this year. According to the Journal, employees of these stores have an opportunity to interview with Winn-Dixie.
