Now it’s a dozen.
A 12th Southeastern Grocers store in Northeast Florida appears to be converting to an Aldi discount grocer.
Brochures for Monument Pointe Plaza near East Arlington show “Aldi Coming Soon” at the Winn-Dixie store at 1531 Monument Road.
An associate said the store would close Aug. 17 and did not when Aldi would open, pending renovations.
“We can confirm the Winn-Dixie store located at 1531 Monument Road will convert to a new ALDI store,” said a statement May 30 from Meredith Hurley, senior director of Communications and Community for Southeastern Grocers.
“All associates working at the Monument Point Winn-Dixie store received official advance notice that their store is projected to close mid-August to convert to an ALDI location,” Hurley said.
“To ensure a smooth transition for our associates, SEG will continue working diligently with ALDI to provide support and opportunities to each associate at converting stores, including having the first opportunity to apply to roles at newly converted ALDI stores or remain with Winn-Dixie and transfer to another store.”
She advised customers to use the store locator in the Rewards app or visit the WinnDixie.com website to find locations.
“We appreciate the continued support of our valued associates, loyal customers and communities throughout this process.”
Landlord Isram Realty & Management Inc. shows on one brochure that Aldi will lease 23,367 square feet of the Winn-Dixie space, leaving 23,885 square feet for a future tenant.
Another shows that Aldi will lease within the 46,772-square-foot space, leaving 22,772 square feet for a future tenant.
The Duval County Property Appraiser shows the 48,199 -square-foot supermarket was built in 1985.
Winn-Dixie anchors the shopping center at southwest Monument and St. Johns Bluff roads. Other tenants include Vito’s Pizza and Cricket Wireless. Goodyear Tires operates on the western end of the property.
The site is across St. Johns Bluff Road from Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport.
The closest Winn-Dixie not identified for conversion now is 4.4 miles south at 11380 Beach Blvd., at southwest Beach Boulevard and St. Johns Bluff Road in Town Center Village.
Another is about 6 miles west at College Park at 999 University Blvd. N.
Meanwhile, the closest Aldi to the Monument Point store is 3.4 miles southwest at 9337 Atlantic Blvd., east of Southside Boulevard.
Aldi stores are about half the size of Winn-Dixie stores, which generally leaves additional space for landlords to lease.
The conversions so far appear to be doubling Aldi’s presence in Northeast Florida. Aldi had 13 stores before the first SEG conversion.
Germany-based Aldi now operates 14 stores in Northeast Florida, including one that it recently opened as a result of its 2024 purchase of 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores from Southeastern Grocers Inc.
The 12 Northeast Florida locations identified for conversion so far include:
Duval County (8): The first converted Aldi opened March 20 in a former Harveys at 2261 Edgewood Ave. W. in Northwest Jacksonville. Other neighborhoods with expected conversions include Brierwood, Cedar Hills, Downtown, Fort Caroline, Girvin, Monument; and Neptune Beach. The Downtown store was a Harveys Supermarket and others are Winn-Dixie locations.
Nassau County (1): Fernandina Beach Winn-Dixie.
Clay County (1): Fleming Island Winn-Dixie. That is expected to open soon.
St. Johns County (2): Saint Johns and St. Augustine Winn-Dixies.
As of May 30, Aldi had at least 14 stores open in Northeast Florida, comprising nine in Jacksonville, including the Edgewood conversion, and five in the counties of Clay (2), Nassau (1) and St. Johns (2).
The sale and re-sale
In March 2024, Aldi bought Jacksonville-based Southeastern Grocers Inc., which operated about 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Aldi then started converting some stores to its banner.
A group led by former Southeastern Grocers LLC CEO Anthony Hucker bought 170 of stores back from Aldi this year but will continue to operate others targeted for an Aldi conversion until they close for the construction.
The U.S. headquarters for Aldi is in Batavia, Illinois.
Aldi has about 2,400 U.S. stores and said the Southeastern Grocers acquisition was part of a plan to add 800 stores nationwide by 2028 through new openings and store conversions.