BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Southeastern Grocers, the owner of Winn-Dixie grocery stores, said it is acquiring the Hitchcock’s Markets locations in Keystone Heights, Alachua, and Williston.
“These stores will be converted to Winn-Dixie and opened in phases beginning late 2025, further strengthening the grocer’s North Florida presence,” the company said in a news release. “The new Williston Winn-Dixie…is expected to open in early December 2025. The Alachua and Keystone Heights Winn-Dixie stores are slated to open by summer 2026.”
In the same news release, the company said it is selling 32 Winn-Dixie stores and eight Harvey’s Supermarkets in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.
“SEG will continue to serve southern Georgia with stores in Brunswick, Folkston, Lake Park, St. Simons Island and Valdosta,” the company said. “Store closings are expected to be completed by year-end, with all banner transitions anticipated by early 2026.”
“Following these transactions,” Southeastern Grocers continued, “the Winn-Dixie Company will move forward with a sharpened focus on its home state and neighboring southern Georgia, operating approximately 130 conventional grocery stores and 140 freestanding and grocery-adjacent liquor stores.”
On Wednesday, October 15, the Keystone Heights Hitchcock’s announced that it was restricting its hours to 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., effective immediately, and will close its doors soon.
Last October, a manager of the Alachua-based chain told a Gainesville newspaper that the enterprise was selling all 10 of its locations in Alachua, East Palatka, Hawthorne, Indiantown in Martin County, Interlachen, Jasper, Keystone Heights, Newberry, Trenton, and Williston.
At that time, the company’s Newberry location was transitioning to a Bravo Supermarket, and Hitchcock’s was entertaining offers from Winn-Dixie for its Alachua, Keystone Heights, and Williston stores.
Mainstreet Daily News also reported that, according to the manager, vendors, like Coca-Cola, had stopped delivering to the stores because of unpaid bills.
After the store posted notices of its closing, Hitchcock’s employees said they thought the store might be reopening as a Winn-Dixie but could not confirm those rumors.
Founded by Bob Hitchcock in Alachua in 1949, the company continued in the community until the founder’s son, Alan, took over in 1978, expanding the chain to 11 locations. The founder’s son focused on rural communities with little or no competition.
That expansion included the purchase in 2001 of four Miller’s grocery stores, including the Keystone Miller’s.
In 2008, 58-year-old Alan Hitchcock sold the chain to Minnesota-based Haug Enterprises, a franchisee of Hitchcock’s primary supplier, Supervalu.
Eleven years later, Haug sold the Hitchcock’s chain to Carlos Alvarez. Under the new owner, the chain expanded to Indiantown and Homosassa Springs.
Alvarez died in September 2024.
