Food Lion Buys 5 Winn-Dixie Stores, Completing Chain's Georgia Exit

Food Lion announced Friday it will acquire five Winn-Dixie stores in Georgia and reopen them under its own banner in mid-December. Winn-Dixie confirmed in a separate press release that the sale completes its exit from Georgia.

The five stores sit in Brunswick, Folkston, Lake Park, St. Simons Island and Valdosta — the same southern Georgia cities where Winn-Dixie said last October it planned to remain. Three months later, the grocer is selling all five locations to Food Lion.

Why is Winn-Dixie leaving Georgia?

The exit is the latest divestiture in a two-year stretch of ownership changes. In early 2025, C&S Wholesale Grocers, together with a consortium of private investors, acquired Southeastern Grocers from Aldi. The group rebranded Southeastern Grocers as The Winn-Dixie Company in January. In August, C&S proposed a transaction to become the majority owner of The Winn-Dixie Company.

As ownership shifted, the company divested stores in surrounding states — Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and now Georgia — to concentrate on Florida.

“For more than 100 years, Florida has been our home. … This strategic decision allows us to build on that momentum and direct more resources toward expanding and strengthening our presence across Florida,” Raymond Rhee, president and CEO of The Winn-Dixie Company, said in a statement.

What does the deal mean for Food Lion?

Food Lion plans to hire roughly 375 associates across the five locations. The stores will keep operating as Winn-Dixie storefronts until the transaction closes. Food Lion will then convert and reopen them in mid-December.

The acquisition lifts Food Lion's Georgia footprint to 51 locations and pushes the banner past its 2026 expansion goal. The grocer had targeted 10 new stores by the end of the year. With these five locations added, Food Lion is on track to open 15 new stores before 2026 closes — 50% above its original plan.

For Winn-Dixie, the sale frees capital and management attention for a Florida market the company has called home for over a century, while Food Lion converts a rival's retreat into its fastest single-state expansion move of the year.