Kroger looking to buy Bi-Lo/Winn-Dixie?

[Dog Walker]

The real problem that W-D had is the management team that that the Bi-Lo owners put in after the buy out.  Totally clueless.  The CEO hired old college buddies for positions that they were not qualified for and other dumb moves.  That's why the owners forced him out recently and why they had to keep postponing the IPO.  Kroger's is their only hope now.

[fsujax]

Kind of bitter sweet for me, hate to see Jax lose a fortune 500 company, but WD is in dire need of a big change. I shopped at Krogers in Atlanta a few times when I lived there, found the stores nice and much better than WD.

[Ocklawaha]

You might want to reconsider your views on Publix I10E, those smiles are not painted on, they're real. The company was named as one of FORTUNE's "100 Best Companies to Work For" (1998–2014) It was also listed as one of The Great Rated! People's Picks: 20 Great Workplaces in Retail (2014).  Recognized by Glassdoor.com's "Employees' Choice Awards" as one of the Top 50 Best Places to Work (2014) and it ranked No. 34 in 24/7 Wall St.com's list of "America's Best Companies to Work For" (2014). Publix ranked as one of the top 10 companies on the Forbes list of the largest private companies (1996–2013).

Minorities? Disabled? Publix was awarded the Catalyst Blue Ribbon Board of FORTUNE 500 Companies with Multiple Women Directors (1998–2013)
Named as United Cerebral Palsy Outstanding Employer for people with disabilities (2013). 38% of their workforce is made up of minorities and a full 49% are women. They have a nondiscrimination policy that includes sexual orientation as well as benefits for same sex couples. Many locations also offer child care packages, some are on-site facilities.

They are also the country's fourth-largest grocer, and the largest employee-owned company in the nation. Employees get generous annual stock infusions. The full time deli clerk pulls down $26,753 a year.

You might not like the selection, but if you don't simply ask for whatever you are looking for, they will typically have it at the counter within a day or two and will give you a call to let you know when it arrives.  At a time when every company in the country has soaped up the windows and abandoned northwest Jacksonville in a mass stampede,  just one major retailer has pumped in money and plopped a modern store right in the middle of the 'hood' at Gateway Shopping Center... at the request of the neighbors no less.

Yada yada yada, no need to foist your opinions on me like this is a communist country. You sound like a Publix representative, listing all of their awards etc, yikes!! I'm sticking to everything that I said. I get so sick and tired of hearing how great Publix is, when I don't think that it's all that. I said that Publix will continue to be successful, but it's not for me.

Foist:
a :  to introduce or insert surreptitiously or without warrant
b :  to force another to accept especially by stealth or deceit

:  to pass off as genuine or worthy <foist costly and valueless products on the public — Jonathan Spivak>

"Never mind the data, I don't like them so you must be a (evil) representative..." This coming from the guy that has launched on every article or comment ever made on MJ that points to something cool in another city that we could import as 'Jacksonville hate speech!'

I'm gaining a whole new understanding for the folks here that have blocked comments from certain posters. Yada, yada, yada...

[Buforddawg]

I could never figure out why people went there.

I fell the same about high priced Publix, and why it's on this supposed 'supermarket supremacy' pedestal. It's just a regular supermarket IMO with 'Disney cast member-esque' borderline fake smiling personalities (ohhh, superior customer service), some specialized Sushi bar or whatever that I could care less about, and a decent deli and fruits and veggie selection. Merchandise selection is all selective, because I'm not all that wild about Publix's overall selection. No one I know shops at Publix, but as long as they continue to get the elderly check writers and yuppie crowds (mostly whites) to come there, they will continue to be very successful.

I agree that WD is clearly going downhill. WD is also a victim of being a traditional supermarket, in the age that they are dying. I agree that it has problems with cashiers with an attitude etc. I've even encountered totally unacceptable issues, like expired beef jerky on the shelf there. WD used to have reasonable prices, now they aren't. Maybe I'm naive to think that WD will change for the better, because it still haven't. I do most of my grocery shopping at NAS Jax commissary/Walmart/Target/Rowe's FWIW.

I disagree with you on all counts.  I shop at the Arlington Creek Publix on Atlantic near University and it has a large mix of people and not just race. The prices aren't bad, considering food prices have been on the rise that last couple of years.  I think Kroger will bring more competition as it is more on par with Publix than Winn-Dixie.

And even if Publix has a Disney-esq fake smiles (which I don't believe they are faking it), they are always nice and courteous.  The managers are always around and seem to go out of their way to say hello or thank you for shopping with us.

Publix has a far superior customer service experience than any of the other grocery stores.  I've gone to the new Fresh Market in Brooklyn for the last 2 Saturdays and while I love their store and the items I can get there that I can't at Publix, there is one surly/unhappy to work there cashier that I have learned to avoid.  But that's for a different thread.

And yes I wholly embrace that I am biased towards Publix not just because of the connection I have as a child but because they do make shopping a pleasure.  Ok that almost made me throw up. Hahahahaha. 

[cayohueso]

Kroger has a small presence in Florida in addition to Harris-Teeter that most people don't know about. The Tom Thumb stores here in the panhandle are Kroger owned. They carry Kroger store brand products etc.

Publix makes the best sub sandwiches though. Done and done!!

[I-10east]

Is Kroger looking to buy Jacksonville-based Bi-Lo, Winn-Dixie? Lots of talk, few answers

There was a lot of talk about that Tuesday. It was reported elsewhere and the Times-Union gave it high profile display on its website.

But the answer is .... no one knows. Or if someone does know, the person is not talking. Here's what's been reported:

A television station in Cincinnati, where Kroger is headquartered, reported the chain is looking to expand into areas where it doesn't have stores now, including Florida and other locations.

A Cincinnati business publication quoted an analyst saying Kroger is likely to make a major acquisition.

A business writer in Tampa speculated that Bi-Lo might be the target.

Other headlines soon followed.

It'd be a huge transaction. Kroger is the country's second-largest grocer behind Wal-Mart with 2,638 supermarkets in 34 states and the District of Columbia under two dozen names including Kroger, City Market, Harris Teeter and Ralphs.

But it has no presence in Florida other than a Harris Teeter in Fernandina Beach. It bought that chain earlier this month for $2.5 billion.

Bi-Lo had little to say about any impending purchase.

"The recent news reports are based on conjecture," said Bi-Lo spokesman Brian Wright, "and we do not comment on rumor and speculation."

A Kroger spokesman said the same thing.

Jon Springer, retail editor with the Supermarket News had his doubts.

"The analyst report didn't reveal anything Kroger's executives hadn't already acknowledged more than two years ago – that they'd be willing to explore acquisitions as a means of growing," he said. "But those same officials have also said many times that the company isn't interested in buying companies in need of a turnaround and/or heavy investment, which according to my sources would be the likely case for Bi-Lo/Winn-Dixie.

"So while anything is possible I wouldn't expect a deal like this to go down at this time."

Springer said that the fact that Bi-Lo cancelled an announced IPO indicated that its financial situation was not rosy enough to attract investors.

Carol Levenson, director of research for Gimme Credit, is the analyst who was quoted by the Cincinnati publication. She said Tuesday that she hasn't heard anything specifically about Bi-Lo.

"Kroger's official stance is that its preference is for smaller, fill-in expansion moves to gain market share," she said. "On the other hand, it has been known to buy an entire chain or banner, so it would not be unheard of."

She said she believes Kroger made an all-cash bid last year for Safeway before that chain was purchased by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management and merged with Albertsons.

"It indicates to us how big an acquisition Kroger is willing to make, i.e. $7-$8 billion," she said. "But this management plays it very close to the vest as far as its [merger and acqusition] plans are concerned."

Bi-Lo bought Winn-Dixie for $560 million in 2012 and moved it headquarters into Winn-Dixie's later that year. The company now has 830 stores in eight Southeastern states.

There have been connections between Kroger, Bi-Lo and Winn-Dixie in the past.

In 2000, Kroger had a deal to buy 74 Winn-Dixie stores in Texas and Oklahoma. But it called it off after the Federal Trade Commission said it would give Kroger too much market share in those areas.

In 1988, Kash N' Karry bought 24 Florida Choice stores from Kroger and put them under the its own banner. That chain became Sweetbay and was included in the 165 stores that Bi-Lo bought last year from the Delhaize Group for $246 million in cash.

Bi-Lo had been ordered by the FTC to sell 12 of them, but it hasn't been able to find a buyer for three Sweetbay stores. The order was amended this week to allow the company to keep those stores in Arcadia, Dunnellon and Lake Placid.

http://jacksonville.com/business/2015-01-20/story/kroger-looking-buy-jacksonville-based-bi-lo-winn-dixie-lots-talk-few

[Captain Zissou]

There were some layoffs at Winn-Dixie/ South Eastern Grocers today.  I know a few corporate folks who were let go.  There were no formal announcements made, they were just told to pack their stuff and go.  Not sure the total scope of everything, but hoping someone on here could shed some light on it.

[The_Choose_1]

There were some layoffs at Winn-Dixie/ South Eastern Grocers today.  I know a few corporate folks who were let go.  There were no formal announcements made, they were just told to pack their stuff and go.  Not sure the total scope of everything, but hoping someone on here could shed some light on it.

" they were just told to pack their stuff and go" This is the worst thing that can happen to anybody working. Short of a gun man coming in and killing you. A job lost is like a death. It's not just the loss of a pay check. It's not having a place to go to the next morning. It's coming home to tell your wife or partner that you were let go. Because the fat Cats in your old job could be getting ready to sell out everything you have helped them to be Fat Cats. And here in Florida the right to work state where employers can tell you your fired pack your stuff and go and tell your nothing else. I feel slow for these people that lost their jobs at the Winn-Dixie/ South Eastern Grocers today.

[ProjectMaximus]

http://jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=546253