Converted Winn-Dixie becomes Fresco y Más store

MIAMI — Southeastern Grocers introduced a new format on Wednesday, with the opening of its first Fresco y Más store in the Hialeah neighborhood here. The outlet, located at the site of a former Winn-Dixie store, has been designed to meet the needs of the local community with an assortment tailored to the tastes and product preferences of Hispanic consumers.

“Winn-Dixie opened its first store in Hialeah in 1958, and this community has been important to us for many years,” Southeastern Grocers president and CEO Ian McLeod said in a statement. “By talking to our customers in the community, we believed that we could cater to their needs even better and decided to develop a store in Hialeah very much with the community in mind.”

The converted store has a new look, with a custom façade and vibrant color palate, and features bi-lingual signage throughout the store. Other new features include:

• An all-new café with expanded seating area serving authentic Hispanic breakfast, pastries, drinks and hot and cold sandwiches
• A new “Cocina” (kitchen) offering daily specials of freshly-prepared food.
• A renovated bakery department offering an expanded selection of Hispanic pastries and baked goods, including flan, tres leches, and rice pudding, made fresh daily.
• New made-to-order personalized party platter packages available to serve 25, 50 or 100 people (includes personalized cake, croquettes (croquetas), pastries (pastelitos) and fried stuffed potatoes (papas rellenas).
• An updated produce department with a wider selection of tropical fruits.
• A new $1 Zone offering more than 300 popular items for only $1, including cleaning products, baby products, bath and health products, foil ware and value greeting cards.
• An additional Wall of Value section featuring weekly specials on popular items Hialeah customers purchase most.

“Fresco y Más offers an expanded Hispanic product assortment, great low prices and new features, including a full-service Latin Butcher shop and new Cocina — everything that our customers told us is important to them,” McLeod said.

At the same time, the rebranded store retains some Winn-Dixie features, including the “Low and Staying Low” program that offers more than 800 products — identified with bright yellow thumbs-up signs — offered at a reduced price for at least six months. Customers at the new Fresco y Más store can also earn Winn Dixie Rewards program points for their purchases, and can still choose from more than 1,000 Winn-Dixie branded products are remaining in the store.