Dive Brief:
- Bi-Lo Holdings will close 23 stores under its Bi-Lo and Winn-Dixie banners by Nov. 17.
- The supermarket holding company, which was formed in 2012, said the stores slated for closure were underperforming. Bi-Lo said it intends to open 25 new and remodeled stores by the end of the year.
- The closures come less than four months after Bi-Lo Holdings spent $246 million to acquire three other supermarket chains — Sweetbay, Harveys, and Reid’s — from Delhaize.
Dive Insight:
In the continuing split in the U.S. grocer sector, in which the world seems to divide into wildly different camps of upscale (see Sprouts vs. Whole Foods) and down-market (see the dollar store takeover war), Bi-Lo and Winn-Dixie appear to be adrift in the middle.
So it will be interesting to see what the new and remodeled stores look like — and what market segment they hope to serve.