Shoppers entering the newly remodeled Winn-Dixie store in Baymeadows (Jacksonville, Florida) will see a lot more than they might have expected.
“I always like a sense of arrival,” said Ian McLeod, president and CEO of Southeastern Grocers, which owns the Winn-Dixie banner.
At the start, they’ll see the large produce section. To their right and beyond produce, they’ll find the floral, sushi, kitchen, coffee (with tables), bakery, seafood, butcher, cheese and deli departments.
And to their left they will see clearly across all eight checkout lanes, which are designed without raised shelving or other elements that obstruct the view.
Departments are clearly identified on the top of walls, part of Southeastern Grocers’ aim to make store navigation easy, especially for busy shoppers.
The store is designed with the traditional Winn-Dixie colors of red and white, with accents of woodgrain, tile and other features.
Most of all, McLeod said during a tour Wednesday as shelves were being stocked and final touches were added, is “the impression of freshness.”
Southeastern Grocers reopened the Winn-Dixie at 10915 Baymeadows Road in the Point Meadows shopping center, just off of Interstate 295, Thursday morning.
It serves as a pilot store for Southeastern Grocers, which McLeod said expects to remodel 50 stores among its three banners this year in its eight-state footprint. It operates 752 Winn-Dixie, Bi-Lo and Harveys supermarkets.
“If it works well, we’ll roll it to other stores in the Southeast,” he said. More Jacksonville stores could be remodeled.
The first remodeled Winn-Dixie opened this month in Ladonia, Alabama. McLeod said there will be varying degrees of renovation among the stores, with the Baymeadows location the first complete interior reconstruction.
McLeod said the store was designed to emphasize freshness, quality, value and the “sense of something cooking in the kitchen,” referring to the on-site food preparation.
The store employees smoke meats; make sauces and rubs; bake breads, pizzas and pastries; fry mini-doughnuts; roll sushi; roast and brew coffee; and even age fresh meats to customer specifications in the butcher area.
Departments include a large “Naturally Fresh” area of at least 3,600 natural, organic and other specialty foods near the front, flowing into an extensive wine and beer area arranged by value, favorites and origin.
Natural and organic selections also can be found within the various departments. More than 4,000 such products are available throughout the store, with 2,600 of them new to Winn-Dixie.
Another area will feature Jacksonville products among the large selection of craft beers.
Those are Bold City Brewery, Veterans United Craft Brewery and Intuition Ale Works, which coincidentally is led by Ben Davis, a grandson of the legendary J.E. Davis, who chaired Jacksonville-based Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. for decades. It was founded in 1925.
Winn-Dixie also will open a liquor store next door.
McLeod said the freshness, value and quality focus will be evident. For example, the bakery offers specialty cheesecake slices in the display case, with more value-priced cakes and bakery items on shelves and floor displays.
Throughout the store, value-priced items will be prominently displayed.
Southeastern Grocers formerly was known as Bi-Lo Holdings, which was formed in 2012 with the merger of Winn-Dixie and Bi-Lo. It located the combined headquarters in Jacksonville and then changed its name to Southeastern Grocers LLC in May.
McLeod, a Scotland native, became CEO nearly a year ago in March.
The supermarket and retail industry veteran moved to Jacksonville with more than 30 years of experience. He most recently ran more than 2,200 Coles food, liquor and convenience stores in Australia.
Before he officially started as CEO, he visited the Bi-Lo Holdings stores, including the Winn-Dixie about two miles west at 9866 Baymeadows Road.
The manager recognized McLeod and offered his views. He didn’t understand why the Point Meadows Winn-Dixie had been closed in 2010 after seven years of operation.
It was in a fast-growing area, with upscale housing and commercial development. Neighborhood customers had healthy household incomes. And, as McLeod found, Winn-Dixie had a 30-year lease on the store.
While Winn-Dixie at the time said it closed in a cost-cutting move, McLeod said it had been built as a standard store and not targeted to the needs of the neighborhood.
McLeod said since 2010, the population in the area has increased by 50 percent. It’s not far from the St. Johns Town Center, which opened in 2010, and is near large new developments, such as the IKEA store that will be built at I-295 and Gate Parkway.
“This seems to be an ideal opportunity,” he realized.
McLeod’s extensive experience and travels exposed him to many supermarkets and food stores, which generated ideas. The goal was to apply the right ones to the Jacksonville Baymeadows market.
“That’s where the vision came from,” he said.
The interior was demolished in October and renovations began in November. McLeod declined to say how much was invested in the remodel. The building permit was for a $3 million project, but that was just construction.
The store is arranged, stocked and accessorized with customer desires in mind, he said.
For example, the Naturally Better department’s appeal would include the younger, well-educated, affluent individuals and couples who are health-conscious, he said.
The store also will focus on Jacksonville and Florida products. In addition to the beer and the St. Augustine wines, there are shelves toward the front with Sweet Pete’s candies.
FreshJax, Stubbie’s and other local products can be found. The fresh meat includes Adena Meats from Adena Springs Ranch near Ocala. Seafood from local waters also is available.
The sales floor comprises about 33,000 s.f. of the nearly 46,000-s.f. store. It employs 107 people and created more than 100 additional jobs during the construction and setup.
Wi-Fi is available throughout the store. Children also can take part in the shopping experience, with small carts and some interactive, educational displays.
There also are many international products, including one specifically requested by McLeod—Mull of Kintyre Cheddar cheese.
“It’s my indulgence,” he said, adding that he hoped shoppers liked it.
Along with the pilot store, Southeastern Grocers launched a new, refreshed Winn-Dixie logo, which McLeod said would be rolled out progressively with renovations and marketing.
The company is keeping new construction in mind but not immediately.
“The main focus is to improve the existing stores,” McLeod said, although new construction was “in our thoughts” for the future.
*Editor’s note: Karen Brune Mathis, managing editor at the Financial News & Daily Record in Jacksonville, provided this story and photos to The Shelby Report.
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