A former Winn-Dixie store at 947 Amelia Plaza in Fernandina Beach will reopen as an Aldi location with a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for 8:45 a.m. The Germany-based discount grocer plans to offer gift bags with Aldi products and a gift card to the first 200 customers at the store opening. The conversion represents part of a larger acquisition deal completed in March 2024.
“The new store would bring more people a high-quality grocery they want and need at the lowest possible price,” said JR Perry, regional vice president for Aldi, in a March 30 news release. The store opening follows Aldi’s completion of a deal with Southeastern Grocers Inc., now The Winn-Dixie Company LLC, to purchase approximately 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores. The acquisition aimed to convert these locations into Aldi’s discount grocery concept across multiple southeastern states.
The Fernandina Beach location represents one of the 400 stores that changed hands in the March 2024 transaction between Aldi and Southeastern Grocers Inc. Eleven months after the initial deal, a consortium of private investors led by Southeastern Grocers Inc. CEO Anthony Hucker and supplier C&S Wholesale Grocers acquired the parent company and 170 remaining Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores. These remaining locations span five states and will continue operating under their original banners rather than converting to the Aldi format.
Winn-Dixie has implemented a strategic shift following the store sales, focusing operations on Florida and the Northeast Florida region specifically. The company has begun converting Harveys stores to the Winn-Dixie brand as part of this geographic consolidation strategy. This refocusing came after Winn-Dixie sold its stores in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and much of Georgia to concentrate resources on its home state of Florida.
The grocery industry transformation in Northeast Florida reflects broader consolidation trends affecting traditional supermarket chains across the Southeast. Aldi’s expansion into former Winn-Dixie locations provides the German retailer with established grocery infrastructure and customer bases in strategic Florida markets. The discount grocer’s business model emphasizes limited selection, private-label products and streamlined operations to maintain lower prices than traditional supermarkets.
Fernandina Beach residents will have access to Aldi’s typical product mix, which includes fresh produce, meat, dairy products and household essentials at discount prices. The store conversion maintains grocery access in the Amelia Plaza shopping center while introducing a different retail format to the Nassau County community. Aldi operates more than 2,000 stores across 36 states, with continued expansion plans in growing markets like Florida.
The April 2 opening ceremony will mark the completion of the store conversion process that began following the March 2024 acquisition agreement. Customers attending the ribbon-cutting event can expect promotional activities and product samples in addition to the gift bags and gift cards for early arrivals.