CEO Says Winn-Dixie Making Progress

The network down south is none too impressed apparently. I asked my mother-in-law (who spends winter in Hallendale, Fl) how the shopping was and if she saw any changes since last year. She did remark that the Winn-Dixie near her condo went through a renovation but was poorly staffed. Apparently, she waited in line for almost 30 minutes while only one till was open.

This could be a one-off experience but Winn-Dixie needs to realize that the in-law will chat it up with her friends over cards or whatever else they do down there. Now you have a retail wildfire on your hands and swarms of the elderly heading across the street to Publix. Fresh layouts are dandy but back it with service! Chains can negate the entire shopping experience at the cash register.

Doron Levy, President, TheMortgageMachine.ca

Winn-Dixie is all about the press release. Sales are not increasing with the rate of inflation and population growth, therefore market share is declining. Aldi, Publix, and Walmart continue to construct new stores. Winn-Dixie is circling its wagons, focusing on remodeling and playing musical chairs with formats. Let's get real. Winn-Dixie is going to open a price impact store and be competitive with Walmart and Aldi? On what planet will that happen?

Winn-Dixie continues to have a sales per square foot performance which most chains would consider unacceptable and would close. Winn-Dixie is the only chain I know that brags endlessly about not losing as much money as they expected along with insignificant same store sales increases.

For all practical purposes, Winn-Dixie still remains an ineffectual competitor posing no threat to Walmart and Publix. Only a handful of Winn Dixie stores currently perform above the national average sales per square foot. Any Winn-Dixie store performing well (i.e. New Orleans) is being targeted by the competition for future growth under the assumption if Winn-Dixie can do OK, they can do great.

Winn-Dixie is not going to press release and speech-make their way back to profitability. Setbacks always seem to be blamed on the weather or over-zealous promoting rather than their lack of competitiveness. Winn-Dixie claims double digit sales increases from remodels however that is easy to achieve when your sales base is so low. Remember, 12% of nothing is still nothing.

David Livingston, Principal, DJL Research

Doron's in-laws may have spread the word to my own in laws all the way to Dade City. Same thing...nice store, but you have to wait through one cashier. Hmmm...coincidence? Not likely.

Winn-Dixie reminds me much of A&P. The retailer that is ever contracting in size and profitability but never seems to die or go away. No matter how poorly they do or how much they lose, they never seem to go away or be reduced enough to complete failure.

Both might be good case studies of how to survive as barely mediocre at best.

'Scanner'

Any strong well-run chain would have a very hard time operating against Publix and Walmart. A weak, poorly-run one doesn't have much of a chance. Winn-Dixie has never been very impressive in my opinion and add to this the tough economic climate and I think it spells disaster. I'm surprised that they are still here.

Art Williams, Retail Marketing Consultant/Analyst, Independent

There was a time when Winn-Dixie had the good locations and the largest retailer owned beef processing facilities. Times changed, the new Floridians brought rapid population growth--and they shopped at Publix and Walmart. Winn-Dixie kept shrinking, and while they tried new, larger formats--others also did, and more successfully. I just think it is too little and too late.

Anne Bieler, Sr. Associate, Packaging and Technology Integrated Solutions

They still have a long way to go. There is room for more grocers, Winn-Dixie just needs to decide who their core customer is and serve them well. I don't see a high level of customer loyalty to them today.

John Crossman, President, Crossman & Company

"There were a lot of Winn-Dixies in urban markets, and they were neglected. Now, we have figured it out."

While I know next-to-nothing about WD--hey, at least I'm being honest!--I doubt many people will find a statement like that reassuring: even if it's true--a big if--it sounds like the kid who is proud that they finished a math problem in 55 minutes...but has only 5 minutes to do the other 9.

'notcom'