The last decade was unkind to Winn-Dixie, the Florida-based grocery chain that saw its footprint plummet from over 1,000 stores to just over 500. The company entered bankruptcy in 2005, and emerged in 2006 with a pared-down operating area and a plan for reinventing both its stores and its image.
That plan reached a major milestone this month with the opening of the first new Winn-Dixie store since the bankruptcy, a 55,000 square foot location in what used to be a Publix store.
"In my opinion, the company lost its way, and we're more focused on the customer now than ever," said Randy Rambo, Winn-Dixie's regional vice president. "The lesson we learned as a company is that you always have to work on being right for the customer. We talk a lot about the customer experience, and to be candid, we didn't used to talk about it. What the customer sees, feels, hears — that's all a big part of what we work on daily."
Rambo said the store design and product selection are completely driven by the company's new mantra of "fresh and local."
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