Southeastern Grocers LLC is restructuring, reducing staff and reviewing its need for space at its leased Prominence Office Park headquarters building as it adjusts with the ownership of the 170 stores it bought from Aldi U.S.
The Jacksonville-based supermarket chain sold about 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores to discount grocer Aldi U.S. in March 2024 and in February 2025 bought back 170.
Germany-based Aldi bases Aldi U.S. in Batavia, Illinois.
Upon the 2024 purchase, Aldi said it would convert 220 Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores into Aldi supermarkets. At least five are being converted in Northeast Florida.
A group of private investors led by Southeastern Grocers Inc. CEO Anthony Hucker and C&S Wholesale Grocers, a longtime supplier to the company, announced Feb. 7 it acquired Southeastern Grocers and 170 remaining Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.
The agreement included the existing Winn-Dixie liquor store business.
Hucker said then that Aldi is continuing with its conversion of those 220 stores, with Southeastern Grocers continuing to operate them as Winn-Dixie or Harveys stores until they are closed for transition. That process is scheduled to conclude in 2027.
The privately owned Southeastern Grocers did not say how many employees will be cut or where it will operate and in how much space.
Store employment
Meredith Hurley, senior director of Communications and Community for Southeastern Grocers, issued a statement April 9 about the company’s restructuring and job cuts.
“As our business evolves and we look to the future, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our Store Support Center in Jacksonville and our Field Support teams across the Southeast,” Hurley said.
“Taking action now is the most prudent thing to do for the long-term health of the business, as we know that we will progressively operate a smaller fleet of stores following previously agreed conversions through 2027,” she said.
“Aligning our structure with the direction of our business is essential to strengthening our operations, ensuring we can continue to serve our customers, support our stores and position our company for long-term success.”
Hurley said the changes do not directly impact the in-store teams, but “we recognize the significance of this decision and the effect it has on all of our associates.”
“We carefully consider every single role when making tough decisions, but as a private company, we are not disclosing the number of impacted associates,” she said.
“However, we are committed to navigating this process with care, respect and transparency, and we deeply appreciate the dedication and contributions of every affected team member.”
Southeastern Grocers has not said how many employees it has had in recent years. Upon its relocation to Prominence Office Park in 2016, Southeastern Grocers said 790 associates moved and more than 330 remained in Westside at 5050 Edgewood Court, which became the Southeastern Grocers Technology Center.
Hurley said the affected staff is being offered a comprehensive support package, “including fair compensation, continued health benefits with COBRA paid by the company and access to career coaching resources, including recruiter connections, resume building and interview preparation.”
Hurley said Southeastern Grocers remains "focused on our customers and the communities we serve. We are committed to building a stronger future – one that honors our 100-year legacy while transforming to meet the needs of tomorrow.”
Store Support Center
Southeastern Grocers has been leasing the four-story, 165,000-square-building in Prominence Office Park in the Baymeadows area as its Store Support Center.
Southeastern Grocers renovated the structure at 8928 Prominence Parkway, No. 200, in 2016 at a project cost of almost $6.48 million and moved that year from West Jacksonville.
“Our leadership team is actively exploring the future of our Store Support Center,” Hurley said in a statement April 11.
“While we have not yet reached a final decision and are still evaluating various options, we remain committed to ensuring that our associates will be the first to know of any changes.”
Hucker responded to questions March 14 about Southeastern Grocers’ Jacksonville headquarters and local presence.
“While we remain committed to maintaining the Winn-Dixie name and its historic, iconic legacy deeply rooted in the state of Florida, our leadership team is actively exploring the future of our Store Support Center,” he said.
“We have not made a definitive decision, as we are still evaluating various options. We will be sure to share more information in the coming months.”
Asked whether that indicated a potential decision to leave the Baymeadows headquarters or possibly Jacksonville, the company said “there is no additional information beyond what was already shared.”
Prominence in transition
The future of Prominence Office Park is in transition as well.
Prominence is at southwest Baymeadows Road and Interstate 95, with Prominence Parkway its main road into the park.
A limited partnership led by Jacksonville-based Dream Finders Homes LLC paid $22 million for 15 parcels, including seven office structures built from 1988 to 1998, in the park in June 2024.
It is moving ahead on its redevelopment.
The city is reviewing a permit for DFH Prominence LP to demolish Building 300, a three-story, 96,512-square-foot building on 7.01 acres at 8935 Prominence Parkway. It was built in 1998.
Prominence Office Park comprises 754,691 square feet of office space in buildings that range from 21,991 to 160,065 square feet of space.
For the first demolition, KLT Construction Inc. of Jacksonville Beach and North Florida Waste Management & Demolition of Jacksonville are the contractors at an estimated job cost of $80,000.
The demolition includes the building, the surrounding parking lot and other parking areas.
A site plan shows that Building 300 will be the first to be demolished, followed by Building 700 and then Building 500.
That leaves Buildings 100, 200, 400 and 600.
Southeastern Grocers is headquartered in Building 200, which was built in 1990.
‘A very healthy business’
Hucker said in March that Southeastern Grocers is considering expansion of its two chains.
“While our footprint is condensing to approximately 170 stores, Southeastern Grocers is focusing our resources on existing and new potential locations to enhance customer experiences and increase operational efficiency,” he said.
“We know that our success of the past several years was driven in part by spending the necessary capital to invest and remodel our store facilities, growing our liquor store business with additional locations and adding select new grocery store locations where we had the opportunity to do so within our footprint,” he said.
“Our plans provide for sufficient capital expenditures to be deployed to pursue these same investments going forward.”
Hucker said as a private company, Southeastern Grocers will not disclose any financial data, including its sales figures.
“I can confirm that we are a very healthy business,” he said.