The Winn-Dixie and Harveys Names Will Live On After All and More Grocery Updates

Private investors led by the head of Southeastern Grocers have purchased the Southeastern Grocers business from Aldi’s U.S. arm. This story is a bit of a puzzle, considering Aldi just acquired Southeastern Grocers in March, so stay with us.

In March, Aldi acquired Southeastern Grocers and its roughly 400 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores. Of those 400:

• Aldi will convert about 220 to the Aldi banner. Until each store closes for conversion, Southeastern Grocers will operate it, according to a company spokesperson. In 2025 specifically, Aldi plans to open more than 225 U.S. stores, including the first batch among the 220 Winn-Dixie and Harveys conversions.
• That leaves about 170. The latest news is that a group of private investors, led by Southeastern Grocers president and CEO Anthony Hucker and by C&S Wholesale Grocers, has purchased those from Aldi. That includes grocery stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as the Winn-Dixie liquor stores.

MORE ON C&S AND OTHER WHOLESALERS: Know Your Tenants: What Indy Grocers Are Facing These Days

This Grocer Topped Placer.ai’s Brands to Watch in 2025

Sprouts Farmers Market, meanwhile, tops Placer.ai’s list of brands to watch this year. Placer said Sprouts’ “promising coupling” of 2024 growth in overall visits, at 7.2%, and visits per location, at 1.6%, “seems driven by the … powerful understanding of who they are and what they bring to the market.” Placer added that Sprouts’ focus on fresh, high-quality products resonates with consumers and that its reliance on small-format stores “is empowering the chain to bring locations to the doorstep of their ideal audiences.”

Sprouts operates more than 430 stores in 24 states. In an October earnings call, CFO Curtis Valentine said the grocery chain had nearly 110 approved new stores and more than 70 signed leases in its long-term pipeline.

Other brands that made Placer’s top 10 are fast-casual restaurant Cava, Ashley Furniture, Nordstrom, Sam’s Club, fast-casual restaurant Raising Cane’s, Life Time, Barnes & Noble, Asian grocer H Mart and cosmetics retailer Bluemercury.

Blackstone Closes Acquisition of ROIC and Its 93 Grocery-Anchored Centers on the West Coast

Blackstone announced Wednesday that it has completed its acquisition of ROIC. Blackstone Real Estate Partners X has acquired all outstanding common shares for $17.50 per share in cash. “We ended the year I guess with a bang,” Blackstone global real estate co-head Kathleen McCarthy said on CNBC’s Closing Bell last week. “We took private a company called ROIC, a $4 billion transaction. This was following over a decade of real caution around the retail space.”

She said of Blackstone’s commercial real estate investment approach: “You can continue to have great performance in real estate in a higher-rate environment, provided that you have cash flow growth, and that’s where we’re really focused, is making sure we’re in the asset classes and positioned to benefit from this change in the supply-demand dynamic.”

Later, addressing the specific supply-demand and cash flow conditions around ROIC’s portfolio — around Sept. 30, it was 10.5 million square feet across 93 grocery-anchored retail centers around Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Oregon — she added: “These assets are focused in the highest-density population centers of the country. They’re not making more of that.”

Watch more of McCarthy’s comments on commercial real estate and the retail sector:

Grocery-Anchored Center REIT Phillips Edison Could Spend 47% More on Acquisitions in 2025

Phillips Edison & Co. plans to ramp up its spending on acquisitions in 2025. It purchased 14 shopping centers and four land parcels for a total of $305.7 million in 2024. In the fourth quarter alone, the grocery-anchored shopping center REIT sold no properties and acquired four.

For 2025, Phillips Edison envisions spending $350 million to $450 million on acquisitions. On the low end, that would translate to a 15% year-over-year jump and on the high end to 47%. “We are excited for the growth opportunities ahead, which will be driven by strong internal growth and our expanded acquisition plan,” CEO Jeff Edison said.

At the end of 2024, Phillips Edison’s portfolio comprised 316 shopping centers spanning 33.3 million square feet. Its top grocery anchors include Kroger, Publix, Albertsons and Ahold Delhaize. The U.S. grocery brands of Ahold Delhaize are Food Lion, Giant, The Giant Co., Hannaford and Stop & Shop.

Chipotle Cooks Up More Than 300 New Company-Owned Stores for 2025

Joann Plans To Shut Down More Than Half Its Stores

Fabric and crafts retailer Joann, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, said on Tuesday it’s seeking court approval to close about 500 of its 800 stores. “This was a very difficult decision to make, given the major impact we know it will have on our [employees], our customers and all of the communities we serve,” Joann said. “A careful analysis of store performance and future strategic fit for the [company] determined which stores should remain operating as usual at this time. Rightsizing our store footprint is a critical part of our efforts to ensure the best path forward for” the company.

Liberated Brands Will Close Its 124 Stores in the U.S.

Liberated Brands — whose surfing- and skating-inspired apparel labels include Billabong, Quiksilver, Roxy, RVCA and Volcom — is closing its 124 stores in the U.S. after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to CoStar News. The fortunes of the once high-flying company started unraveling as problems due to high inflation and the supply chain mounted, Fast Company reported. Liberated suffered an additional blow in December when Authentic Brands Group yanked several brand licenses.

Simon Will Refresh Long Island Mall Amid Plans to Unlock Value in Its Class B Properties

“We’ve been organizationally very focused on the — for no better word — the A’s,” president and CEO David Simon said on a recent earnings call, referring to the landlord’s top-tier malls. “We do think there’s real effort, focus, growth for us in the B’s, where we’re investing our dollars, so that’s a big program for us in ’25 and ’26.” In other words, Simon plans to unlock value in properties outside its top tier. An early example: The REIT is undertaking a multimillion-dollar makeover of Smith Haven Mall in the Long Island community of Lake Grove, New York. The project, which will start this summer and deliver in 2026, will bring new retailers, including Zara and Sur La Table; restaurants; entertainment options like Golf Lounge 18; and a new outdoor plaza. Simon also will repaint the exterior and update signage and entryways. The 1.2-million-square-foot Smith Haven Mall features more than 130 stores.

U.S. retail and food services sales minus motor vehicles, auto parts and gas grew 3.9% year over year in January, keeping up the year-over-year pace for each month since September 2024. Looking month to month, such sales dropped 0.5% from December 2024 to January 2025, just as they did from December 2023 to January 2024. “Though job and wage growth have remained solid, the decline may reflect weakening consumer confidence, as indicated by The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, and frustration with persistent inflation that has been increasing over the past several months,” said ICSC research manager Matthew Panfel.

January Year-Over-Year Growth in U.S. Sales

Seasonally adjusted, advance data

General contractor, construction manager and design/builder Norco Construction promoted Erik Rappel from vice president of operations to COO. He joined the company in 2017 as senior project manager. He’ll manage operations and business growth, oversee construction practices and develop long-term expansion strategies.

—Additional reporting by C+CT editor-in-chief Amanda Metcalf