A 14th Northeast Florida Winn-Dixie store is identified for conversion into Aldi.
The German-based discount, no-frills grocer, with U.S. headquarters in Illinois, wants to split the 47,175-square-foot Winn-Dixie at 703 Chaffee Road S. in West Jacksonville into a smaller space for Aldi.
The store is at southeast Interstate 10 and Chaffee Road.
Aldi intends to lease 23,522 square feet of the building, leaving 23,653 square feet of residual space for another tenant.
No contractor is identified for the estimated $810,000 project.
ADP Engineering & Architecture PLLC of Victor, New York, is the architect.
Esrog Realty LLC of New York City is the landlord.
Jacksonville-based Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. built the store in 1999 and sold it in 2001, leasing it back.
Winn-Dixie’s parent company is now The Winn-Dixie Co.
Meredith Hurley, senior director of Communications and Community for The Winn-Dixie Co., sent a statement Jan. 23:
“At this time, our Chafee Road Winn-Dixie will continue normal business operations, serving the community with the same great quality, service and value our customers know and love. Our associates will be informed first of any decisions impacting them as those decisions are finalized, and as market conditions permit.”
The Southeastern transformation
Aldi is more than doubling its presence in Northeast Florida after its March 2024 acquisition of 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi from Jacksonville-based Southeastern Grocers Inc.
Less than a year later, in February 2025, a consortium of private investors – led by Southeastern CEO Anthony Hucker – acquired Southeastern Grocers in a deal that included about 170 Winn-Dixie stores in those five states, along with the chain’s liquor store business.
Aldi kept about 220 of the stores and has been transforming them to its brand.
Aldi announced Jan. 12, 2026, that it plans to continue its Southeast expansion in 2026 by converting close to 80 Southeastern Grocers locations.
Since acquiring Southeastern Grocers, Aldi said it has converted and opened nearly 90 stores, with plans to complete the transformation by the end of 2027
The Aldi tally
Trying to keep track: Aldi has at least 20 stores open in Northeast Florida comprising 12 in Duval County; three each in Clay and St. Johns counties; and two in Nassau County.
The first Northeast Florida Aldi opened in October 2014 in St. Augustine.
With Chaffee Road, Aldi now has acquired at least 14 Northeast Florida stores from Southeastern Grocers for conversion.
Distribution center
To serve the Southeast expansion, Aldi confirmed Jan. 16 that it plans to open a distribution center in 2027 in the former C&S Wholesale Services facility in Baldwin, which is in West Duval County.
Aldi Regional Vice President JR Perry said the center is at 15500 W. Beaver St., where C&S Grocers was leasing a 1.2 million-square-foot facility on 200 acres.
C&S Wholesale Services, also called C&S Wholesale Grocers, closed that center in July 2025. It serviced Winn-Dixie.
Perry said Aldi had “begun transitioning the Baldwin distribution center.”
The center is 7 miles west of the Chaffee Road store.
Aldi in brief
In the Jan. 12 news release, Aldi announced that as it enters its 50th year in the United States, it plans to open more than 180 stores by the end of 2026 in 31 states.
Its five-year plan includes entering Colorado and continuing growth in Southeastern and Western markets, along with opening three distribution centers that include Baldwin.
It now has more than 2,400 stores across 38 states with more than 45,000 employees.
It anticipates operating almost 2,800 stores by year-end and reaching 3,200 by the end of 2028.
Corporate.Aldi.us reports that the Albrecht Family founded the world’s first discount grocery store in 1961 in Germany. In 1976, it opened its first U.S. Aldi store in Iowa.
Its U.S. headquarters is in Batavia, Illinois.
Aldi offers streamlined shopping with smaller stores than many competitors, a smaller assortment of groceries, no service departments, and a system in which customers pack their own bags and can rent a cart for a quarter, receiving the coin back when the cart is returned.
Winn-Dixie
Southeastern Grocers announced Jan. 21 it has rebranded as The Winn-Dixie Co. with a “refreshed Winn-Dixie brand, designed to feel more modern, confident and connected to the way families shop today.”
“This is a defining moment — more than a name change, it proudly declares who we are and where we’re headed,” Hucker, Winn-Dixie CEO, said in a news release.
In addition to the new name, Winn-Dixie launched a new logo and tagline — “Bring Home More Good.”
The company said the tagline “reflects the grocer’s commitment to helping customers bring home more value, more great-tasting food and more of what matters most for their families.”
Southeastern Grocers announced Oct. 21 it is shedding most of its stores outside Florida to focus on its home state.
Winn-Dixie also is adding stores. It announced in October it bought Hitchcock’s Markets in Williston, Alachua and Keystone Heights in Florida.
Winn-Dixie said it celebrated the grand reopening of its remodeled St. Cloud store in November and that additional remodels are underway and planned.
“We’re investing with intention — opening new stores, refreshing existing ones and elevating the products our customers know and love — while maintaining our commitment to value and quality,” Hucker said.