WINN-DIXIE SELLING RX FILES OF 173 STORES

Wendy Toth

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Winn-Dixie Stores is selling the pharmacy records of at least 173 supermarkets' customers to 17 buyers. The sales are taking place in the wake of a voluntary petition to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

"Customers will have the continuation of their prescriptions," said Joanne Gage, vice president of advertising and marketing, Winn-Dixie. "If they wish to transfer them from the new company that has purchased their file to another company, they have the ability to do so but will not lose service during this transition."

According to Winn-Dixie's Aug. 5 list of closing pharmacies where files have been sold, buyers include: CVS Corp., records from 61 stores; Eckerd Corp., 20 stores; Bi-Lo, 20 stores, Kroger Co., 12 stores; Publix Super Markets, 12 stores; Walgreens, 10 stores; SuperValu, nine stores; Target, eight stores; Fred's Stores of Tennessee, six stores; Rite Aid, five stores; Harris Teeter, five stores; AWG Pharmacy Network, two stores; Food Lion, two stores; Wal-Mart, two stores; Star Pharmacy, one store; Reynolds IGA, one store; and Alex Lee, one store.

The supermarket intends to sell or close 326 Winn-Dixie locations, reducing the size of its store base from 913 stores in the U.S. and the Bahamas to 587 stores. "Winn-Dixie's reduced footprint reflects stores that remain in markets where the company feels it has strong market share and/or the ability to grow market share further," Gage said.

After putting the closing stores up for sale in June and completing a July 18 auction, Winn-Dixie has agreed to sell 102 stores to 30 buyers, many of which intend to operate the locations as food and beverage stores. These sales will net the company $42.8 million plus the cost of inventory.

Winn-Dixie intends to use the reorganization to improve its operations and financial performance and strengthen its business. This approach is meant to impact Winn-Dixie pharmacies as well. "The more foot traffic a store has, the stronger the pharmacy business, in most cases," Gage said.