Courtesy of Winn-Dixie
Winn-Dixie Apopka celebrated the supermarket chain’s 100th anniversary with a giveaway- and cake-filled birthday bash Friday at its new location on Main Street.
“For generations, we’ve been a trusted part of family dinners, holiday gatherings and everyday moments that matter most,” said Anthony Hucker, chairman and CEO for Winn-Dixie parent company Southeastern Grocers, in a Sept. 3 press release. “As we celebrate our centennial, we honor our lasting legacy of serving our neighbors with quality and value and look ahead with a renewed commitment to empowering people to feed and enrich our communities as we carry Winn-Dixie into the next century.”
Winn-Dixie Apopka was one of five locations across Florida to welcome guests with live music, birthday cake and samples. The first 100 customers to arrive also received free Winn-Dixie mystery gift cards, which ranged in value from $19.25 to $100.
“Turnout’s been great,” Winn-Dixie regional vice president for region 2 Shawn Sloan said at the event, which ran 4-6 p.m. “I mean, people were lining up since 1:30 this afternoon.”
Although Winn-Dixie is now headquartered in Jacksonville, the first store opened in Miami in 1925, when William Davis bought the Rockmoor Grocery. Two years later, Davis changed the store’s name to Table Supply, according to the 2011 Winn-Dixie website.
The “Winn” in “Winn Dixie” first appeared after Davis and his brother, Carl Davis, purchased over half of Bill Lovett’s Winn & Lovett stores in 1939. The Davis family then acquired 117 Dixie Home Stores in 1955, officially changing the name to Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.
“The original store was probably about a thousand square feet, and the average store today is somewhere around 45,000 square feet and carries up to 14,000 items,” Sloan said. “A thousand square feet today is probably a small general store — about the size of one of our produce departments, pretty much.”
Those who missed the Sept. 5 birthday bash can still benefit from savings through the end of the month. Guests wanting throwback prices may find coupons in the Winn-Dixie rewards app or online.
“We always like to say we’re a 100-year-old startup, because obviously, you know, we’re 100 years old and we continue to grow and we continue to reinvent ourselves,” Sloan said. “So being 100 years old this year is a big deal. Not many companies have ever reached 100 years.”
Winn-Dixie will also donate $200,000 to Feeding America, half of which will fund hunger relief programs. The other half will consist of product donations to feed the local community.
The supermarket chain will partner with the Winn-Dixie Gives Foundation and the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida on Thursday to distribute food for 500 families across central Florida. The distribution event will run from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Patmos Chapel Community Service Center, according to a press release.