Southeastern Grocers intends to convert at least six more Jacksonville Winn-Dixie stores to its Harveys Supermarket banner.
The six are:
• 777 Market St. in Downtown
• 5909 University Blvd. W. in Southside
• 3000 Dunn Ave. in North Jacksonville
• 203 W. 48th St. in the North Shore area
• 2261 Edgewood Ave. W. in Northwest Jacksonville
• 5250 Moncrief Road in Northwest Jacksonville
Southeastern Grocers seeks certificate-of-use applications from the city for the new use of the six properties.
The conversions aren’t entirely unexpected.
The supermarket chain opened its first local Harveys in May when it converted a Winn-Dixie at 1012 Edgewood Ave. N. in Northwest Jacksonville.
The Jacksonville-based company said at the time the store was tailored to the community.
President and CEO Ian McLeod said then the company might roll out the initiative to more Winn-Dixie stores.
Southeastern Grocers Communications Director Zack Bingham did not confirm the six store conversions Friday morning, but issued a statement that the company is constantly working to improve its stores, service and prices to ensure that it is listening to and serving the needs of each unique community in which it operates.
“Our new Harveys concept store and our Winn-Dixie on Baymeadows Road are exciting examples of this innovation, and we will continue to work every day to serve Jacksonville even better,” he said.
Bingham said the company would tell customers when it had anything definitive to share about its stores.
The company’s remodel program included a renovation for a pilot Winn-Dixie in Baymeadows tailored to a more affluent market. That store, at 10915 Baymeadows Road, opened in February. McLeod previously said that prototype might roll out to other stores.
On Wednesday, Southeastern Grocers issued a statement regarding media reports the Downtown store might convert to Harveys.
“As the progressive transformation of our business and our stores continues, we’re constantly evaluating and improving all of our product offerings and design of our stores to meet the needs of our customers,” said a statement attributed to Joe Caldwell, manager of corporate communications.
Caldwell said the company, like other retailers, frequently updates the décor in its stores and tests new concepts and innovations to gauge customer response before rolling changes out to its larger network.
McLeod said in May the Northwest store’s neighborhood was in need of new and different offerings from the company.
He said the format was designed for customers on a budget. He said Harveys offers items that customers requested along with “better value on the products they purchase most.”
To prepare for that first store, McLeod said management and researchers met with customers and “listening groups.”
In addition to pricing, feedback told the company it needed a stronger vegetable and greens selection. The store responded with inventory, displays and aisles arranged to meet those requests.
In addition to a focus on low-priced deals, there was a larger meat department with more smoked meats, pork and poultry items; a refreshed produce department with some from area farmers; and some locally made products.
It’s not clear how large an investment is intended for the conversion of the six additional locations.
The first Harveys conversion took place overnight. The store closed on a Tuesday afternoon and re-opened Wednesday morning with the new name and format.
The upgrade included painting, cleaning, freshening, rearranging, organizing and product assortment. Deli and bakery area fixtures were upgraded to support expanded offerings.
The company operates the Winn-Dixie, Harveys and Bi-Lo banners. It has more than 750 grocery stores in seven states.
It’s not clear how many other area Winn-Dixie stores might be converted to Harveys or to the pilot Baymeadows Road location concept.
Bingham said there are 42 Winn-Dixie stores in Duval, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties, including 25 in Jacksonville.
There are 57 Harveys, including the Northwest Jacksonville location. The other Harveys closest to Duval County are in Lake City, Melrose and in Folkston, Ga.
McLeod, who came to Jacksonville in March 2015 to lead Southeastern Grocers, said at the Harveys opening that Winn-Dixie had focused on a homogenous approach to its store design.
The company wanted to better tailor stores to their markets.
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