St Augustine not among Winn-Dixie closures

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. updated Historic City News, as promised, with the locations of the 30 underperforming grocery stores it plans to close before the end of September — the St. Augustine stores were spared.

Coupled with the store closings, other cost-cutting measures include eliminating 120 corporate and field positions and consolidating its four operating regions into three.

The three St. Augustine store locations in Northtowne, St. Augustine Beach and SR-207, have been through the company’s ongoing remodel program that started after it emerged from bankruptcy several years ago. The 30 stores being closed have not.

“We continue to operate in a particularly difficult economic and retail environment in the Southeast,” Winn-Dixie Chairman, CEO and President Peter Lynch said in a news release. “To respond to these business and economic conditions, we have thoroughly reviewed our retail operations and support structure and have decided to exit certain retail locations and reduce our corporate and field support staffs. The actions we are taking today will enable us to lower our cost structure, improve efficiency, and build the right foundation for our business now and in the future.”

The Jacksonville-based food retailer did not immediately provide the total number of layoffs expected, but did confirm that there are, on average, 65 employees per store. The company says that employees in the closed stores will be given the chance to apply for other jobs in the company.

Laid-off employees not placed in other positions will get severance pay. The company expects to pay out $5 million in severance pay, according to the news release.

As a result of the layoffs, job eliminations and consolidations, the company expects to achieve annualized savings in the range of $12 million to $17 million.

According to their corporate website, Winn-Dixie operates 514 stores in five Southeastern states.

Photo credits: © 2010 Historic City News staff photographer