Wal-Mart Competition Causes Winn-Dixie Loss

Citing competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., said it plans to close or sell 156 stores this year and shed as many as 10,000 employees, or 10 percent of its work force. The grocery chain barely turned a profit in its fiscal third quarter as sales plunged.

Winn-Dixie said it plans to close 45 unprofitable and poorly located stores in its core markets across the southeastern United States. The company will also try to sell 111 stores in the Midwest, Virginia and certain parts of the Carolinas. Winn-Dixie said it will close those stores it can’t sell.

The company also intends to sell manufacturing operations including Dixie Packers, Crackin’ Good Bakery/ Snacks and Montgomery Pizza. In addition, Winn-Dixie said it would exit distribution centers in Sarasota, Fla., Raleigh, N.C., and Louisville, Ky. The downsizing will leave Winn-Dixie with 922 stores and about 90,000 employees.

For the third quarter ended March 31, Winn-Dixie reported net income of $610,000, or less than a penny a share, compared with $50.6 million, or 36 cents a share, a year ago.

Total sales fell 5.5 percent to $2.67 billion from $2.82 billion, while same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year — a key indicator of retail performance — dropped 6.4 percent. Excluding the stores Winn-Dixie plans to exit, the company’s same-store sales declined 6 percent.