Aldi shoppers know the drill.
Soon, more Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets customers will, too, as the German discount grocer starts converting those Southeastern Grocers stores it bought in March into its namesake brand.
Bring a quarter for the cart, but chances are another shopper in the parking lot will give you theirs – maybe for your quarter, or maybe gratis – so they don’t have to return it to the storefront corral to reconnect it to retrieve the coin. They likely found it free, too.
Bring grocery bags, or else buy bags there – paper or reusable – or take one of the free boxes Aldi keeps in bins around the store.
Watch the speedy checkout – the seated cashiers are whizzes. You likely do not have time to run back to pick up an item you forgot.
After checking out, pack your own bags – at a counter along the front of the store, or take the cart to unpack at the car, or if you have a box, the cashier will stack your goods in that.
Aldi says it keeps its prices low because of its no-frills stores, which stock more items that you might think but not a large variety of sizes and brands.
There are no meat, seafood or bakery counters but the stores carry packaged fresh varieties. More than 90% of Aldi products are its house brands, which the company says are manufactured by the nation’s leading food producers
Then there is the “Aldi Finds” aisle, also called the “aisle of shame,” where the chain stocks seasonal merchandise along with housewares, clothing, toys, décor, international or new foods, shoes, boots and swimsuits. The selection changes frequently. Facebook has 1.4 million members of the ALDI Aisle of Shame Community.
“I liken it to a Baby Costco,” said Kate Clifford, broker-owner of the Jacksonville Beach-based Strategic Sites Clifford Commercial real estate firm.
She was drawing a parallel between the deals found at the wholesale warehouse clubs that, at an average 146,000 square feet, are more than six times the size of the average Aldi store, which is about 22,000 square feet.
“It is an economic alternative that appeals to many.”
Aldi claims customers can save up to 40% on their grocery bills compared with traditional supermarkets and more than 15% compared with big-box discounters.
The start of the conversion
Aldi operates at least 13 stores in Northeast Florida, comprising eight in Jacksonville and five in Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties.
Winn-Dixie and Harveys have at least 42 stores in the five-county area of Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns.
A private company with U.S. headquarters in Batavia, Illinois, Aldi has not announced how many of 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys supermarkets in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi it will convert or which will remain as they are or which, if any, will be closed.
It said in August when it agreed to buy Southeastern Grocers that it intended for “a meaningful amount of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets to continue to operate under their current banners.”
Aldi has about 2,400 U.S. stores and said the Southeastern Grocers acquisition is part of a plan to add 800 stores nationwide by 2028 through new openings and store conversions.
Aldi said March 7 as it completed the acquisition that it could convert some of the 400 stores beginning in the second half of 2024.
About 50 Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores would begin the conversion process in late 2024 and reopen as Aldi stores in 2025.
“Starting mid-summer, ALDI will begin a phased approach to the store conversion process,” the company said in March.
Jacksonville-based Southeastern Grocers has not announced which stores will be converted, either.
The conversions are emerging through media reports.
That includes the first that emerged in Northeast Florida – the Harveys Supermarket in Edgewood Square at 2261 Edgewood Ave. in Northwest Jacksonville.
The city is reviewing a permit application for T.D. Farrell Construction Inc. of Alpharetta, Georgia, to convert the 46,189-square-foot space into a 21,839-square-foot Aldi store at an estimated project cost of $1.7 million.
Aldi and the landlord would determine the use of the unneeded space.
Southeastern Grocers said July 11 that conversion plans are being finalized to convert the Edgewood Harveys.
“As we work through this transition period, conversion plans are still being finalized and we will share more information as it becomes available,” said Meredith Hurley, Southeastern Grocers senior director of communications and community, in an emailed statement.
The Edgewood Harveys
The Harveys Supermarket, built in 1987, converted from a Winn-Dixie in 2016.
District 10 City Council member Ju’Coby Pittman said July 11 she is glad Aldi is not closing the store.
“That Harveys has been around a long time,” Pittman said.
“My main focus is because it is a food desert community, being able to have another store emerge means that it will continue to be an asset that is needed,” she said.
“We have enough disparities already and to have had another store close in that community would not be a good thing.”
She said a lot of the residents do not have personal transportation and depend on the store.
Pittman said she has shopped at Aldi and thinks it will be a fresh entry.
“We want stores that want to be in our community,” she said. “We deserve quality in our stores.”
One set of changes will be the amenities that Harveys offers that aren’t found at Aldi.
Harveys says it offers an ATM, coin counter, copier, lottery, money orders and money transfers.
“That would be something that would be missed,” Pittman said.
“I don’t know what it would take for Aldi to provide those services.”
Pittman said accessibility to groceries is the critical point.
“For me, shopping a clean store is imperative and it is important that you have fresh food, the lighting is good, and the prices,” she said.
Aldi could intercept the loss of some service amenities as it converts larger full-service stores to its smaller concept.
Eric Heninger, adjunct professor of accounting and finance at the University of North Florida Coggin College of Business, suggested July 12 that Pittman approach Aldi about the services that Harveys provides in her district.
While Aldi likely doesn’t have the space, nor the strategy, to provide the services, Aldi could help attract those to their operating areas.
“If your main amenity is low prices, you don’t want (to add more make space for) anything else,” Heninger said.
“I would think Aldi would bend over backward to facilitate other providers of services to come in and to help bridge that gap.”
The real estate
The more than 40 stores in play will ripple through the area’s retail real estate market.
Franklin Street Senior Vice President Carrie Smith said July 11 that she expects the conversions and market transition to unfold strategically.
“Up until the Edgewood Square announcement, Aldi’s plans for the Winn-Dixie and Harveys boxes has been relatively unknown, but from what we understand they are being thoughtful in the transition, with a specific strategy tied to each location,” Smith said.
“We’re highly doubtful we’ll see a one-size-fits-all strategy with this acquisition, given the varying dynamics for the shopping centers Winn-Dixie currently operates in,” she said.
“What we do know, is that Aldi is a well-loved brand within Northeast Florida that caters to a wide range of customers, so we anticipate the transition to Aldi to be a welcome addition to both consumers and retailers alike. “
Smith said the size difference in the stores offers an opening for new retailers to enter the market.
“Given the size difference between Southeastern Grocers’ footprint and Aldi’s, we anticipate there being opportunity for retailers in the 10,000-20,000 SF range to take advantage of Aldi rightsizing most, if not all, of the boxes,” Smith said by email. “Because of the continued demand for space in our market, this inventory should lease up relatively quickly.”
Winn-Dixie and Harveys claim dozens of locations in established markets and neighborhoods. Winn-Dixie’s predecessor company established its headquarters in Jacksonville in 1944 and changed the name to Winn-Dixie in 1955.
Heninger said that retail property owners are gaining a credit tenant.
“That is huge in terms of financing options. When you have a credit tenant in there, the universe of financing options opens up. Your cost of capital will go down,” he said.
A credit tenant is one with strong credit, typically a major corporation with strong finances.
“It will open up funds for improvements and tenant build-outs,” Heninger said.
That leads to shopping center upgrades, which lead to higher quality prospective tenants.
“It’s a net benefit for all involved,” he said.
More Winn-Dixie / Aldi stories
- Experts offer insight on how fast-growing Aldi is reshaping grocery market. Story here
- Southeastern Grocers says Edgewood Square Harveys conversion to Aldi is being finalized. Story here
- Harveys in Edgewood Square is first Northeast Florida store turning into an Aldi. Story here
- Aldi to keep Southeastern Grocers headquarters in Jacksonville. Story here
- Aldi completes acquisition of Winn-Dixie parent company Southeastern Grocers. Story here
- The Aldi deal: Why Winn-Dixie was destined to sell. Story here
