Last Updated 6/24/05

Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.

Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., filed for bankruptcy pursuant to Chapter 11 on February 21, 2005 in the Southern District of New York. An order was entered on April 13, 2005, transferring the cases to the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division. These cases are assigned to The Honorable Jerry A. Funk.

David W. Langley, P.A. has been retained to handle a number of personal injury claims against Winn-Dixie. One such case was featured on South Florida's Channel 7 News program 'Help Me Howard'. Call or email us if you need help with a Winn-Dixie claim.

Note - the deadline to file a proof of claim in the Winn-Dixie bankruptcy case is August 1, 2005.

Most experts expect Winn-Dixie to survive bankruptcy. We have been advised by insiders in the case that various investors are offering to buy claims at over 50% of face value, a very high amount this early in the case.

According to the Associated Press, the supermarket chain is hoping to resolve its deep financial crisis by closing more than a third of its stores and slashing 22,000 people from its work force under a proposed reorganization plan to leave Chapter 11 protection.

Winn Dixie said it will close or sell 35 percent, or 326 of its 913 stores in the coming months. Winn-Dixie's counsel are hopeful that the sale of various store and other components will generate substantial income fore the troubled chain.

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. will cease operations in four states — Tennessee, Virginia and North and South Carolina — and will trim operations in its five remaining states. Those are Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. It also has stores in the Bahamas.

Mark Hamstra of Supermarket News said Winn-Dixie still needs to define itself and find a niche. But he thinks the decision to close stores should help.

"It looks like they are getting rid of their weakest performing stores. That should help reduce their overhead and bring them closer to profitability," Hamstra said.

Winn-Dixie, which filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 21, is No. 182 on the 2005 Fortune 500 list of the country's largest corporations. Winn-Dixie was ranked No. 8 among 19 food and drug store companies, while Lakeland-based Publix was ranked No. 6 among supermarkets and No. 117 overall.

The Jacksonville-based supermarket chain listed assets of $2.2 billion and liabilities of $1.9 billion in the February bankruptcy filing.

 

 

Copyright © 2005 by David W. Langley. All rights reserved.