ALDI to Open March 5 at Former Winn-Dixie Site on Amelia Island in Fernandina Beach

After more than six months without a full-service supermarket at the site of the former Winn-Dixie, Amelia Island residents will soon get long-needed relief from their local food access gap.

The new ALDI grocery store at 947 Amelia Plaza in Fernandina Beach is slated to open Thursday, March 5, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 8:45 a.m. outside the store, according to ALDI’s official grand-opening page.

Customers will be welcomed into the store immediately after the ceremony.

For the past nine months, Amelia Island shoppers had only one grocery store - Harris Teeter - to frequent when both the former Winn-Dixie and Publix closed within weeks of one another to be remodeled. Publix is expected to reopen later this year.

As is customary with ALDI grand openings, the first 200 customers in line will receive a free eco-friendly bag filled with ALDI products and a “Golden Ticket” gift card valued at up to $100, with numbered laminated cards handed out to early arrivals.

The new store occupies the space of the former Winn-Dixie supermarket that closed in late July 2025 — a closure that left parts of Nassau County without a major traditional grocery store.

The Fernandina Beach ALDI is part of a sweeping industry transformation in the Southeast following ALDI U.S.’s acquisition of Southeastern Grocers — the Jacksonville-based parent company of Winn-Dixie and Harvey's Supermarket — which was completed in March 2024. As part of that deal, ALDI took ownership of roughly 400 grocery and liquor stores across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Under the acquisition agreement, ALDI plans a multi-year conversion program that will see approximately 220 former Winn-Dixie and Harveys stores rebranded as ALDI supermarkets through 2027.

Over the past year and a half, ALDI has been steadily converting and opening these stores — including a number in Northeast Florida — bringing its smaller-format, low-price grocery model to communities that once relied on larger traditional supermarkets.

In early 2025, a consortium led by Southeastern Grocers’ leadership, including C&S Wholesale Grocers, purchased about 170 of the previously acquired Winn-Dixie and Harveys locations, but ALDI retained the remaining 220 conversion targets and continues to move forward with its expansion plans.

The arrival of ALDI on Amelia Island restores in-person access to affordable groceries in an area that has felt the absence of a full supermarket since last summer’s Winn-Dixie closure.

Shoppers can expect ALDI’s combination of:

• Everyday low prices on fresh produce, dairy, meat and pantry essentials.

• A curated selection of national and ALDI-exclusive brands designed to maximize value.

• A simplified shopping experience focused on efficiency and savings.

The opening reflects a broader shift in grocery retail in Northeast Florida, where the ALDI banner is expanding through conversions of former Winn-Dixie and Harveys locations.

City and county officials, local business leaders and grocery shoppers are expected to attend the March 5 opening as ALDI fills a key retail gap on the Island that residents have felt since last summer.