BI-LO will buy Winn-Dixie store
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on July 6, 2005 1:45 PM
BI-LO, a supermarket chain based in Greenville, S.C., is planning to buy the Winn-Dixie grocery store on Wayne Memorial Drive, according to the latter's web site.
The store is one of three in Wayne County that Winn-Dixie intends to close. The other two stores are located on Berkeley Boulevard and on U.S. 117 south.
Winn-Dixie, which is in bankruptcy, announced last month that it will close or sell 326 stores across the Southeast. It will close all its stores in North Carolina.
Winn-Dixie officials said last week that the corporation has received bids on 79 of its stores. On its Web site, the store listed the Wayne Memorial Drive location as one that had been bid on by BI-LO. BI-LO submitted a bid of $9 million each for 20 stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama. BI-LO also plans to buy two stores in Raleigh.
BI-LO operates nearly 300 grocery stores in the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee.
The bids can be overturned by a higher bidder, according to the Web site. An auction will be held July 18-19 to accept bids on its remaining stores, Winn-Dixie said.
"We will continue to work to identify potential buyers for stores for which there is currently no sales agreement," said the Web site.
Winn-Dixie officials have not said when they plan to cease operations at the three Wayne County stores.