WINN-DIXIE PAVILION CONCEPT GROWS

LISA A. TIBBITTS

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Winn-Dixie Stores here has placed its Marketplace & Food Pavilion format in a new market and continues to expand the concept.

The chain's Louisville, Ky., division premiered its first Food Pavilion earlier this month and will open another early next year.

Moreover, Winn-Dixie said it currently has about six of these stores under construction in various markets.

There are currently 25 units operating under this prepared foods-dominated Food Pavilion format. The first of these stores opened in February 1993 in the Orlando area, said Mickey Clerc, vice president of public relations for the chain. Most of Winn-Dixie's stores operate under a different format, called Marketplace.

The Food Pavilion format's special features include the use of professional chefs and a variety of special departments. At an average of 50,000 square feet, the Food Pavilion stores are about 5,000 square feet larger than Winn-Dixie's Marketplace format.

Because of specific demographic and real estate requirements, Food Pavilion stores can only be installed in certain areas, Clerc said. Due to these considerations, the Food Pavilion prototype is not destined to become Winn-Dixie's format of choice for all future expansions.

"It has to be a location that has enough population density and it has to have a certain income level because the Food Pavilion store has a lot of prepared foods to take out or to finish cooking at home," he said. "When property becomes available that suits a Food Pavilion store, then we consider that format."

In the new Louisville unit, one-third of the 53,300-square-foot store is occupied by perishables departments, from the standard bakery and deli to the specialized breakfast bar and Wok Shoppe, said the division's marketing director, Nelson Rodenmayer.

He noted that another Food Pavilion store will be opening in Florence, Ky., under the Thriftway banner early next year. Winn-Dixie acquired the Thriftway units last year. Located in the Cincinnati metropolitan area, they operate as part of the Louisville division.