Aldi says it will buy 400 Winn-Dixie, Harveys groceries across the southern U.S.

Aldi plans to purchase 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys supermarkets across the Southern United States from Southeastern Grocers Inc.

Driving the news: Aldi will acquire all outstanding shares of Southeastern Grocers Inc. under a proposed merger agreement.
* If approved by regulators, the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2024.
* The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
* The supermarkets Aldi is acquiring are primarily in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

The big picture: The deal comes amid wider consolidation in the U.S. grocery industry.
* Aldi currently controls 2% of U.S. grocery sales, while Southeastern Grocers controls less than 1%.
* The Aldi’s share had grown 0.2% since 2021, whereas Southeastern Grocers’ share was down 0.2%.
* Last year, Kroger and Albertsons, two of the largest U.S. grocery chains, announced plans for a $20 billion merger which is currently under review.

Worth noting: Aldi plans to convert some locations to its own brand and format, while others will continue to operate under the Winn-Dixie and Harveys brands.
* Aldi’s format cuts costs with features like restricted selection and self-bagging.
* Neil Saunders, an analyst with GlobalData Retail, suggested that the deal indicates Aldi’s intention to experiment with more traditional supermarkets that don’t follow its low-cost model.

Yes, but: There is opposition to grocery industry consolidation.
* The United Food and Commercial Workers union and secretaries of state from seven states have expressed opposition to the Kroger and Albertsons merger.
* Concerns have been raised over transparency, job impact, consumer choice, and pricing implications.

What’s happening: Southeastern Grocers also plans to sell its 28 Fresco y Mas stores to Fresco Retail Group.
* The Fresco Retail Group will continue to operate them under the same brand.

View original article on NPR

This summary was created by an AI system. The use of this summary is subject to our Terms of Service.

Contact us about this post

Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *