Retail news isn’t very good these days. Sears. K-Mart. Toys R Us. And now Harveys.
Southeastern Grocers, the parent company of Harveys, Winn-Dixie, BI-LO, and other grocery retailers, announced late last week that it has filed Chapter 11 cases as a part of a Restructuring Support Agreement in an effort to save the ailing company. As a result, 94 stores throughout the Southeast, including 19 in Georgia, will close.
Most of the stores that will close are Harveys stores. Neither of the Harveys locations in Douglas are affected. However, several close to Coffee County will in fact close. Harveys stores in Adel, Moultrie, Waycross, and Ocilla are closing. Three of the Georgia stores that will close are Winn-Dixies – two in Valdosta and one in Columbus.
This isn’t the first time Winn-Dixie has been in trouble. Nearly 20 years ago, Winn-Dixie went through a difficult financial period that resulted in the closing of a number of stores, including the Douglas location.