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Aldi U.S. to Acquire 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets Across the Southeast

Aldi U.S. inks a deal with Southeastern Grocers to acquire almost 400 locations of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets in the southeastern United States across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Aldi U.S. announced its plans to acquire Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets, both regional retail grocers from the parent company, Southeastern Grocers, based in Florida, United States on August 16, 2023. Aldi U.S., which already has more than 2,300 retail outlets, will acquire 397 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores in the deal.

Transaction Summary

Our Take on the Acquisition

Aldi U.S. (acquirer) acquired Winn-Dixie (target) and Harveys Supermarkets (target) to expand its presence in the southeastern United States. Aldi U.S. has traditionally grown organically through investing and building new locations, which is both slow and expensive. However, through these acquisitions, Aldi U.S. can maintain its aggressive growth in a small fraction of the time.

Aldi plans to convert a significant number of the stores it will acquire to the no-frills Aldi format. The smaller footprint of an Aldi store means substantial portions of these acquired properties will not be used as supermarkets and will be available for new leasing opportunities, which can be an additional source of long-term revenue for the company.

The Facts of the Acquisition

  • Target #1: Winn-Dixie is a chain of grocery stores, liquor stores, and in-store pharmacies founded in 1925. It serves communities throughout Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The company is a subsidiary of Southeastern Grocers, a prominent supermarket chain in the southeast United States.
    Target #2: Harveys Supermarket is a U.S. supermarket chain founded in 1924. It serves customers through more than 50 outlets in Florida and Georgia. The company is also a subsidiary of Southeastern Grocers.
  • Acquirer: Aldi U.S. is the American subsidiary of the German multinational, family owned, discount supermarket chain Aldi SÜD. Aldi U.S. has more than 2,300 stores in 38 states in the United States. In January 2023, Aldi U.S. opened its 26th regional headquarters and distribution center in Loxley, Alabama. The 564,000-square-foot Loxley facility, which is the sixth Aldi has opened in the southern U.S., will service stores in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and the Florida Panhandle.

The Transaction

Date:August 16, 2023
Price:Undisclosed
Purpose: The expand in the southeastern United States and reach its goal of more than 2,400 stores by the end of 2023.
Acquirer’s Statement:Jason Hart, CEO of Aldi – “Like Aldi, Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets have long histories and many loyal customers in the Southeast, and we look forward to serving them in the years to come. The time was right to build on our growth momentum and help residents in the Southeast save on their grocery bills. The transaction supports our long-term growth strategy across the United States, including plans to add 120 new stores nationwide this year to reach a total of more than 2,400 stores by year-end. Aldi will operate Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores with the same level of care and focus on quality and service as we also evaluate which locations will convert to the Aldi format to better support the neighborhoods we’ll now have the privilege of serving. For those stores we do not convert, our intention is that these continue to operate as Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores.”

Target/Seller #1: Winn-Dixie

Company Information

Target:Winn-Dixie
Website:winndixie.com
Founded:1925
Industry: Retail Grocery
Type:Subsidiary
Employees:41,000 (Source: company website)
Locations:Head Office: 8928 Prominence Parkway, Bldg 200, Jacksonville, Florida, United States

Product Information 

Products:Baked Goods – Flour-based foods baked in an oven
Dairy – Milk and other products derived from milk
Deli – Ready-to-eat foods such as cheese, cooked meats, and prepared salads
Frozen Foods – Items frozen to increase the shelf life
General Grocery – General items for daily use and consumption
Meat – Beef, pork, chicken, and seafood
Medicines – Over-the-counter and prescription medicine
Fresh Produce – Farm-produced crops, including fruits and vegetables
Snacks – Packaged and processed food in small portions
Liquor – Alcoholic drinks and spirits
Market Reach:Alabama
Florida
Georgia
Louisiana
Mississippi

Financial Information 

Revenue:USD $8.7 billion (Unconfirmed source: ZoomInfo)
Revenue per Employee:USD $212,195 (i.e., USD $8.7 billion / 41,000 employees = USD $212,195 – estimated based on the number of employees from the company website and the revenue from ZoomInfo)

Did You Know?

According to the latest study by Coresight Research, the U.S. grocery retail market will experience moderate growth in 2023 due to lower inflation, an ongoing consumer shift toward foodservice, and share gains by nontraditional grocery retailers like dollar stores, discount stores, and warehouse clubs. In its latest “Market Navigator: U.S. Grocery Retailing” report, Coresight projected that total U.S. grocery retail sales will increase by 5.6% to $1.5 trillion in 2023, a decrease from the inflation-strengthened 9.2% increase to $1.42 trillion in 2022. Unfortunately, Coresight forecasts U.S. grocery retail dollar sales growth to slow annually, up 4.2% year over year to $1.56 trillion in 2024 and up 3.3% to nearly $1.74 trillion in 2027.

Target/Seller #1 Overview: Winn-Dixie

Winn-Dixie is a chain of grocery stores that serve communities throughout Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It is a subsidiary of Southern Grocers, one of the largest supermarket chains in the Southeast United States. The check mark in the Winn-Dixie logo comes from the logo of another grocery chain, Kwik Chek, which joined the Winn & Lovett company sometime in the early 1950s. The Kwik Chek name first appeared in a 1953 Winn & Lovett annual report, but there were no newspaper notices of an acquisition or merger. Due to its acquisitions and new store openings, by 1983, Winn-Dixie ranked as America’s 11th largest retailer. It’s long been an industry leader, with hundreds of outlets operating in the Southern U.S.

Winn-Dixie serves customers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Target/Seller #2: Harveys Supermarket

Company Information

Target:Harveys Supermarket
Website:harveyssupermarkets.com
Founded:1924
Industry: Retail Grocery
Type:Subsidiary
Employees:4,400 (Source: company website)
Locations:Head Office: 8928 Prominence Parkway, Bldg 200, Jacksonville, Florida, United States

Product Information 

Products:Baked Goods – Flour-based foods baked in an oven
Dairy – Milk and other products derived from milk
Deli – Ready-to-eat foods such as cheese, cooked meats, and prepared salads
Frozen Foods – Items frozen to increase the shelf life
General Grocery – General items for daily use and consumption
Meat – Beef, pork, chicken, and seafood
Fresh Produce – Farm-produced crops, including fruits and vegetables
Snacks – Packaged and processed food in small portions
Liquor – Alcoholic drinks and spirits
Market Reach:Florida
Georgia

Financial Information 

Revenue:USD $860 million (Unconfirmed source: Zippia)
Revenue per Employee:USD $195,455 (i.e., USD $860 million / 4,400 employees = USD $195,455 – estimated based on the number of employees from the company website and the revenue from Zippia)

Target/Seller #2 Overview: Harveys Supermarket

Harveys Supermarket is an American supermarket chain with over 50 stores in Georgia and Florida. Although the first Harveys Supermarket opened in 1924 in Nashville, Georgia, the company actually began in 1910 when Iris Harvey began a makeshift grocery store in her living room to supplement her family’s income. Iris’s living room supermarket became so successful that her husband, J.M. Harvey, quit his job as a railroad foreman to grow his wife’s successful grocery venture. The husband and wife duo moved their grocery store from their home to an actual storefront in 1924, marking Harveys Supermarket’s official debut. Although it has been bought and sold multiple times over the years, today, Harveys Supermarket is a subsidiary of Southern Grocers, one of the largest supermarket chains in the Southeast United States.

Harveys Supermarket serves customers in Florida and Georgia through more than 50 outlets.

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Buyer/Acquirer: Aldi U.S.

Company Information

Buyer:Aldi U.S.
Website:aldi.us
Founded:1976
Industry: Retail Grocery
Type:Subsidiary
Employees:18,136 (Self-published on LinkedIn)
Locations:2,304 retail locations in 38 states
Head Office: 1200 North Kirk Road, Batavia, Illinois, United States

Product Information 

Products:Baked Goods – Flour-based food baked in an oven
Dairy – Milk and other products derived from milk
Deli – Ready-to-eat foods such as cheese, cooked meats, and prepared salads
Frozen Foods – Items frozen to increase shelf life
General Grocery – General items for daily use and consumption
Meat – Beef, pork, chicken, and others
Fresh Produce – Farm-produced crops, including fruits and vegetables
Snacks – Packaged and processed food in small portions
Liquor – Alcoholic drinks and spirits
Market Reach:Alabama (40)
Arizona (11)
Arkansas (12)
California (99)
Connecticut (31)
Delaware (9)
Florida (210)
Georgia (75)
Illinois (211)
Indiana (82)
Iowa (36)
Kansas (28)
Kentucky (23)
Louisiana (11)
Maryland (64)
Massachusetts (20)
Michigan (102)
Minnesota (74)
Mississippi (10)
Missouri (93)
Nebraska (11)
New Hampshire (9)
New Jersey (59)
New York (127)
North Carolina (92)
North Dakota (3)
Ohio (157)
Oklahoma (31)
Pennsylvania (154)
Rhode Island (9)
South Carolina (49)
South Dakota (5)
Tennessee (57)
Texas (126)
Vermont (3)
Virginia (74)
Washington D.C. (1)
West Virginia (16)
Wisconsin (80)

Financial Information 

Revenue:USD $37 billion (Source: Statista, a statistics and data company)
Revenue per Employee:USD $2.04 million (i.e., USD $37 billion / 18,136 employees = USD $2.04 million – estimated based on the self-published number of employees and the revenue from Statista)

Buyer/Acquirer Overview: Aldi U.S.

Aldi U.S. operates more than 2,300 stores across 38 states. One of the fastest-growing retailers in the retail grocery segment, it aims to become the third-largest retail grocer in the United States. Aldi differentiates itself from its competition by providing a bare-bones retail presence and focusing on what customers value: price leadership.

Aldi is the company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 11,000 stores in 20 countries. Founded in 1946 by the Albrecht family in Essen, Germany, the grocery retailer split into two businesses in 1960 due to a dispute over the direction of the business. They adopted the Aldi name in 1962, with the two separate companies becoming Aldi Süd, the owner of Aldi U.S., and Aldi Nord, the owner of Trader Joe’s. Aldi U.S. is a subsidiary of Aldi SÜD.

Aldi U.S. has more than 2,300 stores in 38 states.

Sources

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