Looks like Bi-Lo is ready to go public:
http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2013/08/20/bi-lo-reportedly-working-ipo-deal.html
Sweet! So we will presumably get our Fortune 500 back. 8)
Hope it goes well. They need a strong showing to alleviate concerns over further Wal-Mart expansion and Kroger's potential entry to the Florida market
That's what I'm talking about, good stuff! I'm gonna go on a limb, and say that the US stock symbol will simply be 'BILO'. :)
Quote from: FSBA on August 20, 2013, 11:58:59 PM
Hope it goes well. They need a strong showing to alleviate concerns over further Wal-Mart expansion and Kroger's potential entry to the Florida market
Ironic that you didn't mention Publix, which IMO is biggest threat to most FL supermarkets outside of Walmart, which is everywhere in the US anyway.
Wal Mart neighborhood markets are the biggest threat to Florida right now. Public is a big competitor, but their market strategy is different and they have a different customer base. Both WD and Publix are cautiously waiting to see how the wal mart stores play out.
^^^I think that Publix and WD has more of a similar custom customer base, in many areas than people think. Everyone wants to play this simple "socio-economic" game between Publix and WD, "Publix = rich and WD = poor" well look at a place like San Jose WD; I don't think that there's alot of EBT going through there. Publix has physically closed down WD's (like the one that used to be on Baymeadows) I can't think of a correlation were a Jax Walmart closed down a Jax WD. That's why I think that Publix will continue to be the biggest threat to WD. Don't get me wrong, an over-saturation (like Publix is in Jax IMO) of Walmart Neighborhood Markets would be a serious threat. There's no secret why even the big juggernaut Walmart does competitor ads against Publix in FL.
Quote from: Captain Zissou on August 21, 2013, 07:32:17 AM
Wal Mart neighborhood markets are the biggest threat to Florida right now. Public is a big competitor, but their market strategy is different and they have a different customer base. Both WD and Publix are cautiously waiting to see how the wal mart stores play out.
Wal-Mart can expand to their hearts content, sooner or later they'll discover there are only so many trailer parks!
^^^There must be alot of trailer parks deep inside many city's cores, like Chicago etc....
WD aims for the middle area between Publix, who prides themselves on service and customer experience, and WalMart, who goes for EDL (Everyday Low Prices). What the Wal Mart neighborhood markets are doing is going for that same middle ground. Jax already has 2 or 3 and they ate making some waves. High growth areas (St John's county) are where you'll see the WD vs Publix battles play out. In established areas, the stores are pretty well established. WD bet too big too soon on that Baymeadows store. There will be a large enough customer base in the next year or so to warrant a second look.
All this IPO talk is conjecture and not based on any serious plans. BL is just doing some exploratory research.
^^^Fair enough Capt'n.
I went into one of those Wal-Mart Neighborhood Stores in Fruit Cove to get some beer and was surprised at how nice it was. Guess I was thinking with my stereotypical Wal-Mart idea.
Personally i think wd and publix are way far apart...the whole experience at a publix is nicer..the people..the space..cleaner..brighter..better organized..lower priced ...i wont shop at any walmart no matter the size..BiLow is jacksonville though..cheap.
Bi-Lo is from Greenville, SC. Lone Star Funds, who owns both brNds, is from Texas, and very little of the current WD brNd of stores originated in Jax. The brand now has 850 stores in 12 states. Lower overhead to provide cheaper groceries isn't a uniquely Jackaonville thing, GG, but you rarely say anything factual.
Quote from: Garden guy on August 21, 2013, 12:37:20 PM
Personally i think wd and publix are way far apart...the whole experience at a publix is nicer..the people..the space..cleaner..brighter..better organized..lower priced ...i wont shop at any walmart no matter the size..BiLow is jacksonville though..cheap.
W-D got much better about the appearance of their stores and brands they carried around 2010, and I shop at both W-D and Publix equally. If you think they are cheap or dirty you obviously have never walked through one of the old Food Lions we had in town or a Save A Lot (which I think is/was a W-D company)
Go to the Winn Dixie store down on cr 210. It will blow your mind.
Heck I was impressed with the changes and quality improvements to the one right downtown. Maybe not the best, but vast improvement to what it was.
As a side note, I think it's humorous how the business journal and T-U are giving this "shock factor" with lines like "just months after taking Winn Dixie private, the new company plans to go public". Don't they realize this is the goal from the word go? It is the sole reason for buying them to begin with!
^ 100% true, but I think the TU is hoping that it's general readership isn't aware, so that it can seem credible. Just yesterday Action News "broke the story" that Atkins was asking for money from the city.
I had lunch with some that are moving from Greenville to Jax and they were talking about how they thought the biggest change would be adjusting from the "small town mentality" they were used to. I laughed and told them, "trust me, Jacksonville is the biggest small town in America". The next morning they were baffled to find that our four major tv networks were really two, they had never heard of such a thing.
Quote from: Captain Zissou on August 21, 2013, 07:32:17 AM
Wal Mart neighborhood markets are the biggest threat to Florida right now. Public is a big competitor, but their market strategy is different and they have a different customer base. Both WD and Publix are cautiously waiting to see how the wal mart stores play out.
I'm not sure they're waiting, neighborhood walmarts have been around since the 90's. Heck, I remember seeing them around 2000 in central florida:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart_Neighborhood_Market
Quote from: JayBird on August 21, 2013, 03:57:43 PM
W-D got much better about the appearance of their stores and brands they carried around 2010, and I shop at both W-D and Publix equally. If you think they are cheap or dirty you obviously have never walked through one of the old Food Lions we had in town or a Save A Lot (which I think is/was a W-D company)
I too shop at WD & Publix for a few specific things. I know that I bag on Publix alot, but they have some good fruit salads. Although better believe that I will not push a full sized shopping cart in WD or Publix; With those prices at both, I'll get a mini shopping cart or hand basket at WD, or a hand basket at Publix. I remember when WD used to have some very good prices, and some good expanded generic brands (Deep South, Thirty Maid, Madison House etc).
There's just too much competition out there (NS Mayport & NAS Jax commissaries, Walmart, Costco) with decent prices for me to push around a full sized shopping cart loaded with marked up groceries at WD or Publix, I can't see how people do it. Hey Jay, you meant to say Save Rite (defunct) which was under WD (many turned into WDs like the one on 48th & Main.
Quote from: I-10east on August 21, 2013, 05:31:11 PM
Hey Jay, you meant to say Save Rite (defunct) which was under WD (many turned into WDs like the one on 48th & Main.
Aah that's the one! Thx for the correction. Of course I did love buying stuff right off the pallet there, and the crowd at night was always entertaining!
As to your other points I agree, I go down to the PX on Camp Blanding but they don't hold a candle to the Navy one up in Mayport.
I work at BILO HDQ - there is more news to come...
Quote from: Captain Zissou on August 21, 2013, 09:52:31 AM
WD aims for the middle area between Publix, who prides themselves on service and customer experience, and WalMart, who goes for EDL (Everyday Low Prices). What the Wal Mart neighborhood markets are doing is going for that same middle ground. Jax already has 2 or 3 and they ate making some waves. High growth areas (St John's county) are where you'll see the WD vs Publix battles play out. In established areas, the stores are pretty well established. WD bet too big too soon on that Baymeadows store. There will be a large enough customer base in the next year or so to warrant a second look.
All this IPO talk is conjecture and not based on any serious plans. BL is just doing some exploratory research.
Rogers said that chains such as Winn-Dixie and Bi-Lo are caught between Publix and Walmart.
"They are uncomfortably in the middle market of supermarket retailing," he said. "There's a lot pressure. Publix has a service proposition, Walmart has a price proposition. And anyone in the middle is getting squeeze."
He pointed out that Aldi, a German chain with about 1,200 stores in the United States, has also moved into Florida.
"They're even lower than Walmart [in prices]," he said. "They'll open up right across the street."
The middle segment of grocery stores is also too crowded, he said, with too many stores. And many of those stores have already had trouble.
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/business/2013-08-21/story/reuters-bi-lo-going-public-stock-offering#ixzz2chPOakkK
Quote from: I-10east on August 21, 2013, 05:31:11 PM
Quote from: JayBird on August 21, 2013, 03:57:43 PM
W-D got much better about the appearance of their stores and brands they carried around 2010, and I shop at both W-D and Publix equally. If you think they are cheap or dirty you obviously have never walked through one of the old Food Lions we had in town or a Save A Lot (which I think is/was a W-D company)
I too shop at WD & Publix for a few specific things. I know that I bag on Publix alot, but they have some good fruit salads. Although better believe that I will not push a full sized shopping cart in WD or Publix; With those prices at both, I'll get a mini shopping cart or hand basket at WD, or a hand basket at Publix. I remember when WD used to have some very good prices, and some good expanded generic brands (Deep South, Thirty Maid, Madison House etc).
There's just too much competition out there (NS Mayport & NAS Jax commissaries, Walmart, Costco) with decent prices for me to push around a full sized shopping cart loaded with marked up groceries at WD or Publix, I can't see how people do it. Hey Jay, you meant to say Save Rite (defunct) which was under WD (many turned into WDs like the one on 48th & Main.
Winn Dixie still have better prices than publix. I dont shop at publix at all. The last time I tried to grocery shop there I turned around and left because all I have was 50.00 and the prices were through the roof. Anytime you walk in the store and a pack of oreo's is almost 5.00 that is a problem. Atleast at winn dixie I can use my reward card, get everything that is on special and end up saving like 40.00 and have a grocery cart full of food. I shop at wal mart sometimes, but depending on what you are buying their prices are kinda of high as well.
BI-LO is buying 22 Piggly Wiggly stores throughout SC, and GA.
www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=540506
Publix is buying 7 Bi-Lo stores in NC / SC
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/09/13/4310980/publix-buying-seven-charlotte.html#.UjN008Zwq5U
It's insanity!!!!!!!
Filed for the IPO this morning.
Quote from: I-10east on September 13, 2013, 02:18:33 PM
BI-LO is buying 22 Piggly Wiggly stores throughout SC, and GA.
www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=540506
so yeah this is what I was referring to. When I said "more news to come"
ps, More news to come...