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Augusta, Ga.-Area Winn-Dixie Groceries Being Converted for New Tenants

Posted on: Wednesday, 31 August 2005, 00:00 CDT

Aug. 30--Winn-Dixie's Aisle 6 shelves in Gordon Village once held shortening, flour and Jell-O. Now the shelves are holding dust and their own price tag, just like every other fixture in the store.

All eight Winn-Dixie stores in the Augusta-Aiken area closed this weekend, company spokesman Dennis Wortham said. All stores scheduled to close across the country did so by Monday, he said.

"The next step is to petition the court to reject the leases and hand the property back over to the landlords," Mr. Wortham said.

Including the Bahamas, Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. now has 587 stores, after closing or selling 326 in the past year. Since February, when the company filed for bankruptcy, 102 stores successfully sold.

The rest, including Augusta's, are only open to liquidate shelving and coolers, Mr. Wortham said.

Lee and Stacey Deas purchased display shelves Tuesday to prepare for the October opening of their new lingerie store, It's Your Secret Lingerie Boutique, across from the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Evans.

"We bought produce stands we're going to use for our underwear line," said Mrs. Deas, who purchased the stands at the Winn-Dixie in the Augusta Exchange off Robert C. Daniel Jr. Parkway.

In the month leading to its closure, business was booming at the Winn-Dixie off of Gordon Highway with people capitalizing on the closeout sales.

"I haven't seen them that busy in quite a while," said Wayne Stoppelbein, owner of the Trophy and Gift Center.

His business has shared the Gordon Village shopping center with Winn-Dixie for the past 15 years. Traffic will likely decrease in the plaza, Mr. Stoppelbein said, but he isn't worried. People don't buy trophies on impulse, he said.

The shopping center, where Winn-Dixie served as its anchor, has multiple vacancies. A discount dollar store has left since Winn-Dixie's July announcement they would be closing the store.

The closings in the Augusta area displaced about 500 jobs. Many of the workers have been seeking employment help through the Georgia Department of Labor's area career centers.

At Thomson's center, for example, employees have been visiting the office for the past couple months, said service specialist assistant Renee Januszki.

On Monday, she said, two produce workers came seeking unemployment and assistance in finding new work.

The shelves they used to stock could already be storing underwear.

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WNDXQ,

Source: The Augusta Chronicle

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