After decades on the Westside, Southeastern Grocers moving HQ to Baymeadows
Winn-Dixie and Westside have gone together for decades.
The Jacksonville-based supermarket giant moved to town in 1944 as the Winn & Lovett Grocery Co. Corporate records show it operated along West Beaver Street before moving to 5050 Edgewood Court by 1954 and changing its name to Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. in 1955.
However, new owners have new ideas and now a new location — Baymeadows on the Southside.
Southeastern Grocers LLC, the holding company for Winn-Dixie and two other banners, is moving its headquarters from former Winn-Dixie offices to the Prominence office park.
The Jacksonville-based company told associates Monday afternoon it will move the Store Support Center in the first quarter of 2016 to the four-story, 160,000-square-foot Building 200 at 8928 Freedom Commerce Parkway.
The company has been leasing space at Winn-Dixie’s former headquarters and some functions will remain at that campus.
“We continue to make our business more efficient so that we can invest into the things that matter most to our customers,” said President and CEO Ian McLeod in a statement.
McLeod said the remodeled headquarters will further unify many key departments, “and therefore represents an important step in making us more nimble and responsive to the needs of our customers.”
Southeastern Grocers was formed after Bi-Lo LLC bought Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. in 2012. Bi-Lo was based in Greenville, S.C., but moved the headquarters of the merged company to Winn-Dixie’s corporate offices. Southeastern Grocers is privately owned by funds associated with Dallas-based Lone Star Funds.
Southeastern Grocers said Monday said it was important to remain in Duval County and in a location with good transportation options and security. It said it looked at a number of locations throughout metropolitan Jacksonville and determined the Prominence site “best fit our needs due to cost-effectiveness and convenience for our associates.”
It said the majority of associates at the Store Support Center, Astor and Baypine offices will be moving to Prominence. Some associates from the Baldwin office will also move.
Southeastern Grocers said some associates may remain at their existing location due to their particular role within the organization. The IT Data Center will remain at the Edgewood campus for now, the company said.
The company said the exact number of associates that will move is still being determined.
Southeastern Grocers operates more than 750 Winn-Dixie, Bi-Lo and Harveys supermarkets in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina.
McLeod said the company is proud of its history in Jacksonville, “which has been our home since 1944. We continue to value and appreciate this diverse and vibrant community and we look forward to being an engaged and committed player in this city’s exciting future.”
McLeod said the office environment style at the Baymeadows building will be different.
“All personal offices will be removed, including my own. I believe that an open plan space without offices works far more effectively to break down barriers and encourage face-to-face communication,” he said.
Southeastern Grocers said Monday its Baymeadows offices will include contemporary workstations, glass-walled meeting rooms to compensate for less office space, and facilities to support new product development.
The company also intends to invite area food trucks to visit the Baymeadows site to provide employees diverse dining options daily.
The company’s website, segrocers.com, says the company has almost 72,000 associates. It recently announced it will lay off 250 workers in seven states as part of a restructuring, but did not say how many would be in Jacksonville.
It said the restructuring will simplify its operating model and increase efficiency.
The company said Tuesday the restructure and the move will be carried out several months apart and are not related.
“The primary purpose of the move is to consolidate the majority of store support services into one location,” it said. Citing corporate policy, it said it will not publicly share details about the local impact of the restructure.
Southeastern Grocers said it was analyzing plans for the Edgewood campus.
In the lease transaction, the landlord was represented by Vice President Kaycee Gardner and leasing associate Jessie Shimp of Jones Lang LaSalle, known as JLL. Southeastern Grocers was represented by CBRE Senior Vice President Oliver Barakat.
Southeastern Grocers said there will be signage on the Prominence building, although it won’t be visible from I-95. A contractor has not been chosen for the renovations. It said that as a privately held company, it does not publicly disclose capital investment costs.
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