Winn-Dixie shoppers: Say goodbye to some familiar names.
The Jacksonville supermarket chain is retiring dozens of store brand names including old-timers such as Superbrand dairy products, Crackin' Good crackers, Astor spices and Deep South pickles.
It's the culmination of an effort to update and narrow the focus of Winn-Dixie's stable of private label store brands to three. Going forward, Thrifty Maid becomes the budget brand, a new brand called Winn-Dixie is a mid price alternative and Prestige is the top quality level.
Grocers love private label products because they're more profitable and offer shoppers a 10 to 35 percent savings over national brands. About a fifth of Winn-Dixie's sales are its own store brands, many of which are made in plants Winn-Dixie owns.
The trouble was Winn-Dixie let the stable get out of hand. At last count there were 64 of them including such forgettables as Medic, Madison, Sunbelt, Arrow and Hickory Glen.
"Research revealed that many shoppers didn't know many of them were actually store brands," spokeswoman Joanne Gage said.
One old standby, however, survived the ax. Chek soda, which dates back to the 1950s when Winn-Dixie acquired the Quik Chek supermarket chain, will live on.
