Another Winn-Dixie in Marion County has closed and will be replaced by ALDI, following several other locations that have been in flux since the previous ownership group sold the company and its assets.
The Winn-Dixie supermarket located at 15912 State Road 40 in Silver Springs abruptly closed its doors on Sunday, July 12. The facility was located situated within the Forest Center shopping plaza.
Bright yellow “Store Closing Sale!!!” posters remain displayed in the windows alongside an “Available for Lease” sign posted by Marketlink Commercial Real Estate, signaling the end of the long-standing supermarket’s run serving East Marion County residents.
The sudden closure comes amidst an ever-changing landscape for the regional grocery chain across Marion County following ALDI’s acquisition and eventual sale of parent company Southeastern Grocers.
In May, the Winn-Dixie located at 11310 U.S. Highway 301 in Belleview closed its doors to begin its transition into an ALDI after offering deep clearance discounts to liquidate inventory.
Another local store at 7131 N. U.S. Highway 441 in Ocala is in the midst of transitioning into an ALDI. That transition follows the conversion of the Marion Oaks Winn-Dixie into an ALDI last June.
Separately, in January of this year, a Walmart Neighborhood Market opened in place of a former Winn-Dixie in southeast Ocala that closed over a decade prior.
Outside of the closures, in March, a former Harveys Supermarket in Ocala was actually converted into a Winn-Dixie.
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UPDATE: After the publication of this story, Ocala-News.com confirmed that the shuttered Winn-Dixie is scheduled for conversion into an ALDI and that information was added to the story.