Southeastern Grocers Plans to Adapt and Expand in 2021

Southeastern Grocers, Inc. is a U.S. supermarket company comprising the chains BI-LO, Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket, and Winn-Dixie. Southeastern Grocers' grocery stores, liquor stores, and in-store pharmacies are located in seven southeastern states — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina.  

Anthony Hucker is the president and CEO of Southeastern Grocers, which is based in Jacksonville, Fla. The company is finishing 2020 with 41 new or renewed stores, according to Supermarket Perimeter.  

Although the subsidiary stores like Winn-Dixie have been around for decades, Southeastern Grocers wasn't founded until 2013. Lone Star Funds created the Southeastern Grocers parent company to house Winn-Dixie, BI-LO, Harveys, and Fresco y Más. 

The company has seen a lot of restructuring over the past several years. In March of 2018, Southeastern Grocers filed for bankruptcy, reduced its debt from $1.1 billion to $600 million, and closed 94 more stores.  

“Facing stiff competition, Southeastern Grocers in recent years has worked to restructure its business, focusing primarily on Winn-Dixie, and shed stores,” said Supermarket News. Competition from companies like Kroger, Walmart, and Publix will be a challenge for Southeastern Grocers.  

Southeastern Grocers owns Winn-Dixie, a grocery chain founded in 1925. Winn-Dixie supermarkets can be found in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi.  

Southeastern Grocers owns four subsidiary supermarket chains — Winn-Dixie, Harveys Supermarket, BI-LO, and Fresco y Más. The BI-LO chain, founded in 1961, is gradually being phased out of Southeastern Grocers. 

Southeastern Grocers, under its new IPO, will have 420 stores within the Winn-Dixie, Harveys, and Fresco y Más chains. Also, the company will have 140 liquor stores, 231 in-store pharmacies, and one central specialty pharmacy.  

The company's profitability has improved since its 2018 bankruptcy, according to Yahoo Finance. For the 28 weeks ending July 10, 2018, Southeastern Grocers had a net loss of $62 million. In the 28 weeks ending July 8, 2020, the company reported a net income of $205 million. 

“Over the course of the year, the grocer has renewed 32 stores throughout its footprint to offer improved shopping experiences, opened eight brand-new Winn-Dixie stores in Florida and expanded its growing Hispanic grocery store, Fresco y Más, into a new community in Southwest Florida,” stated Supermarket Perimeter.

Southeastern Grocers has recently divested some of its stores under the BI-LO name and Harveys name. Under its upcoming IPO, it will operate 420 supermarkets. The stores included under the Southeastern Grocers umbrella going forward will be Winn-Dixie, Harveys, and Fresco y Más. 

Anthony Hucker, the CEO of Southeastern Grocers, said, “The challenges of this year only strengthened our resolve to support, elevate and grow the communities we serve,” according to Supermarket Perimeter.   

Southeastern Grocers isn't a public company on any stock exchange yet, but it has plans for an IPO sometime in 2021. The company's filing with the SEC stated that it intends to list its common stock on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "SEGR." The IPO could raise as much as $500 million.