Winn-Dixie to cut 22,000 jobs
These stories continue to disturb me. Here's 22000 more people that are out of work. Every time I see a story like this, I wonder how many children will go hungry and how many people had an alternative income source.
iWon Money & Investing
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Bankrupt grocery store operator Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. (WNDXQ) on Tuesday said it would sell or close 326 stores and cut 22,000 jobs, about 28 percent of its work force, as it tries to improve profits.
Winn-Dixie currently operates 901 stores in nine states and 12 in the Bahamas.
After the changes are made the company will operate about 587 stores in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, and the Bahamas.
The company expects to have about $7.5 billion in annual revenue after disposing of the stores, down 25 percent from its current $10 billion, the company said.
Winn-Dixie also plans to cut personnel at headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida, and sell its dairy plants, its pizza plant in Montgomery, Alabama, and its beverage plant in Fitzgerald, Georgia.
The company also will be exiting 3 of its 10 distributing centers located in Atlanta, Charlotte and Greenville, South Carolina.
The company cut its labor force by 10 percent in 2004.
Winn-Dixie said it is looking for buyers for the stores, distribution centers and manufacturing plants that it will no longer operate. Stores that cannot be sold will be closed, it said.
Company representatives could not be reached for comment, but a recorded statement for investors stated that today's announcement was part of a company-wide "reorganization to focus resources on markets where (the company) has the strongest presence."
The company, founded in 1925, filed for bankruptcy in February after it dominated markets across the U.S. South and in the Bahamas. It lost market share to rivals such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) and Publix Super Markets.
Heirs of company founder William Davis own about one third of Winn-Dixie shares.
The company's stock last traded at about $1.12.
©2005 Reuters Limited.
iWon Money & Investing
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Bankrupt grocery store operator Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. (WNDXQ) on Tuesday said it would sell or close 326 stores and cut 22,000 jobs, about 28 percent of its work force, as it tries to improve profits.
Winn-Dixie currently operates 901 stores in nine states and 12 in the Bahamas.
After the changes are made the company will operate about 587 stores in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, and the Bahamas.
The company expects to have about $7.5 billion in annual revenue after disposing of the stores, down 25 percent from its current $10 billion, the company said.
Winn-Dixie also plans to cut personnel at headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida, and sell its dairy plants, its pizza plant in Montgomery, Alabama, and its beverage plant in Fitzgerald, Georgia.
The company also will be exiting 3 of its 10 distributing centers located in Atlanta, Charlotte and Greenville, South Carolina.
The company cut its labor force by 10 percent in 2004.
Winn-Dixie said it is looking for buyers for the stores, distribution centers and manufacturing plants that it will no longer operate. Stores that cannot be sold will be closed, it said.
Company representatives could not be reached for comment, but a recorded statement for investors stated that today's announcement was part of a company-wide "reorganization to focus resources on markets where (the company) has the strongest presence."
The company, founded in 1925, filed for bankruptcy in February after it dominated markets across the U.S. South and in the Bahamas. It lost market share to rivals such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) and Publix Super Markets.
Heirs of company founder William Davis own about one third of Winn-Dixie shares.
The company's stock last traded at about $1.12.
©2005 Reuters Limited.
posted by Brian | 5:17 PM
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