48 jobs cut at Lakeland Winn-Dixie before store rebrands as Aldi

A Winn-Dixie store in Lakeland has shuttered, and an Aldi will take its place by early 2025, according to a letter posted to the Florida Department of Commerce website.

All 48 of the employees at the Winn-Dixie at 6902 S. Florida Ave. were laid off when the store closed July 29, the letter says. The layoff notice was posted Aug. 2 to the Florida Department of Commerce’s Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification website. Retail and management employees were impacted, including those in the supermarket and adjacent liquor store.

Workers were given the federally required 60 days’ notice before the closing date, according to M. Sandlin Grimm, chief legal officer for Southeastern Grocers, the parent company of Winn-Dixie. 

Former Winn-Dixie employees can apply for jobs at the new Aldi that will take its place, Grimm says in a letter posted on the WARN site.

“The location will be converted to an Aldi grocery store and is expected to reopen in four to six months under that brand,” Grimm says. 

Germany-based Aldi announced in March it acquired Southeastern Grocers, which includes 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana. 

A “significant number” of Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores will be converted to Aldi supermarkets in the next several years, the company says in a March statement.

The Lakeland store is among about 50 locations the company says it plans to begin converting in the second half of 2024 that will reopen under the Aldi banner in 2025 as part of a “phased approach to the conversion process.”

Company officials say “a meaningful amount” of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets will continue to operate under their current banners.

On Aug. 8, a spokesperson for Aldi provided more information about the Lakeland Winn-Dixie closure.

"To ensure a smooth transition, Aldi worked diligently with Southeastern Grocers to provide support and opportunities for each associate, including providing the first opportunity to apply to roles at the newly converted Aldi store or remain with Winn-Dixie and transfer to a neighboring store prior to their store closing," a spokesperson for Aldi says in a statement. "Over a third of the associates were hired for the new Aldi location, and a significant number of associates elected to transfer to a nearby Winn-Dixie store. The remaining eligible associates chose to take severance."

This was updated to include comment from an Aldi spokesperson.