JACKSON - A year after it sought federal bankruptcy protection, longtime grocery retailer Jitney Jungle Stores of America is carving itself up.
The Jackson-based grocery chain, which once boasted nearly 200 stores in the Southeast, agreed Monday to sell 89 grocery stores to Bruno's Supermarkets Inc. and Winn-Dixie Stores Inc.
Greenwood's Jitney Jungle store No. 61 is among those being sold, according to Joey Skeen, co-manager of the West Park Avenue store.
Officials with both Winn-Dixie and Bruno's said workers at the Jitney stores will be asked to apply for jobs. "We're not expecting any major changes," Skeen said.
Jitney Jungle filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 1999 after escalating debts and rising costs outstripped incoming revenues.
In the year since, it has closed or sold more than 60 stores, most of them in urban locations.
"These transactions represent a significant step in the resolution of Jitney Jungle's bankruptcy," said Jitney Jungle CEO Ron Johnson.
Winn-Dixie will buy 72 Jitney grocery stores, 32 gas stations and two liquor stores for $85 million. The stores have annual revenue of $650 million.
Fifty-five of the grocery stores are in Mississippi, 11 in Alabama and two in Louisiana. Winn-Dixie will operate most of the stores under the Jitney name.
"These stores will give us good market share in a new geographic area," said Allen R. Rowland, president and CEO of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Winn-Dixie.
Winn-Dixie operates more than 1,000 stores in 14 states.
Birmingham, Ala.-based Bruno's will acquire 17 Jitney grocery stores, 15 of which operate under the Delchamps name. The company is also buying three liquor stores and two gas stations.
The cost of the stores is $9 million.
Bruno's already owns and operates 153 supermarkets in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi. The company will rename its acquired stores.
Bruno's emerged from its own chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year.
Both deals must be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Eastern Louisiana in New Orleans.
Johnson said both deals should be done by January.
"The Jitney Jungle and Delchamps stores are in the best shape that they have been since our bankruptcy filing," he said.
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