storewanderer wrote:I wonder how much real estate them own vs. how many stores are leased. Those are cheap real estate regions but owning stores could be helping them (though deferred maintenance could come to haunt them).
During the 2005 Bankruptcy, dark store leases were the number one debt. Seems that they'd move out of one and into another, but keep the lease on the old one to keep competitors out. I know specifically of an instance in Lafayette/Scott, LA. The original store in Scott was closed in 1996 or so. It stayed dark until after their bankruptcy, because they wouldn't sublease to another operator who desperately wanted it. During the bankruptcy, they refused all the dark store leases to get out from under that debt. I would suspect that all the leases of stores closed since then were either short term (like the Scott store's recently closed replacement in Lafayette) or were easy to break.
pseudo3d wrote:The situation for Winn-Dixie looks a little brighter in New Orleans, which seems to love its legacy grocers (probably why Albertsons and Kroger were driven out but A&P lasted a very long time there). Still, like A&P, Winn-Dixie can't live on that forever, and sooner or later, something will have to give.
Kroger never operated in New Orleans. The closest they came was Baton Rouge and Morgan City. Albertsons failed there because they made absolutely no attempt to do what the legacy and local folks did: market local products and stock only what folks buy. Winn Dixie in New Orleans does a few things different than other areas. We have fresh sausage and local meats, and some local items you can't get outside of Louisiana. A&P did a lot of the same, being so far removed from the corporate parent for so long. The true locals (Breaux Mart, Rouses, Dorignac's and the like) heavily emphasize local.
pseudo3d wrote:Besides Albertsons that might find interest in larger stores, the Western Louisiana market has a number of independents and smaller stores kicking around (Piggly Wiggly/Shoppers Value, Super 1 Foods, Market Basket, whose territory ends just as Winn-Dixie's begins, possibly others). Still, even if they decided to pull out, I'd be surprised if they were able to sell all of them. In addition to Western Louisiana, Winn-Dixie today only has 14 stores total in the whole state of Mississippi (though that can be attributed to dismal economics, as even Kroger doesn't have very many stores either).
The Shopper's Value group only has one PW left, and that may be converted by now. Any other PW stores in Louisiana are operated by others. I wouldn't be surprised to see Brookshire make an offer for some of the other remaining stores here, but in a couple of instances, it would only be to replace others. New Iberia is 8-10 blocks from a massive Super 1. Eunice is just down the street from a smaller one, as is Abbeville. When Opelousas closed, BGC just moved the Super 1 into the larger WD store. Market Basket is a slow mover; they tend to buy stores in groups at a time.