Your Local Winn-Dixie Store Could Be an Aldi Soon

It’s a good day to be an Aldi shopper—or even a wanna-be Aldi shopper—because Aldi just announced its plans to expand in the Southeast. Earlier this year, Aldi vowed to open 120 new stores across the U.S. by the end of 2023; today, they’ve acquired about 400 stores in the Southeast, including in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

The roughly 400 stores are currently Winn-Dixies and Harveys Supermarkets—housed under the larger Southeast Grocers brand—but with the new agreement, Aldi has purchased the company and now owns those supermarkets. 

The merger gives Aldi control over the locations for them to decide if they want to continue running the Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket locations or if they want to transition those locations into Aldi stores. But, if you’re an avid Winn-Dixie or Harveys shopper, you don’t have to be alarmed because Aldi has already announced that it won’t be closing all of the acquired stores.

“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,” said Jason Hart, Alid’s CEO. “For those stores we do not convert, our intention is that these continue to operate as Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores.”

With the acquisition, Southeast Grocers' original customers will now have access to Aldi’s exceptional products and low prices—plus, it will provide Southeastern employees with Aldi’s “above-industry-average store associate wages.”

Aldi will now own an additional 299 stores in Florida, 39 stores in Alabama, 28 stores in Louisiana, 25 stores in Georgia, and six stores in Mississippi. However, which of those stores will be Aldis and which will remain Winn-Dixies and Harveys Supermarkets still remains to be seen.

The official merger won’t go into effect until the first half of 2024, according to Aldi, so it could be a little while before you know what’s going on with your neighborhood store. For now, we encourage you soon-to-be Aldi shoppers to get excited about Aldi’s copycat private label products and read up on our favorite hacks so you can make the most of the store.