Celebrating a milestone

Island store marks Winn-Dixie’s 100th year in business

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Winn-Dixie recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, and the Pine Island store was among those marking the milestone. PHOTO PROVIDED

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Winn-Dixie recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, and the Pine Island store was among those marking the milestone. PHOTO PROVIDED

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Island Winn-Dixie Store Manager Dan Loughren, center above, and staff welcome shoppers to the special celebration marking Winn-Dixie’s 100th anniversary. The first 100 people to arrive for the party received gift cards. The celebration also featured a number of other treats and give-aways. Below is a special birthday cake made for the event. PHOTO PROVIDED

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Winn-Dixie celebrated its 100th birthday Friday, Sept. 5. St. James City store manager Dan Loughren, along with SE Grocers, invited the public to the birthday party, which had in attendance local firefighters, Pine Island Elementary students, Beacon of HOPE staff and board members, as well as representatives from the Pine Island Food Pantry and the Lee County Sheriff’s Department.

Loughren said, as usual, during a store event, watching the kids enjoy themselves, made up most of his favorite moments.

“The kids from Pine Island Elementary made banners. They were made up of a one and two zeros, to celebrate Winn-Dixie’s 100 year birthday. It’s amazing that they did — it was an art project made of all handprints. That was one of my favorite parts of the day,” Loughren said.

The first 100 people to arrive at the celebration received gift cards, he said, with five $100 gift cards mixed in. Although Winn-Dixie began in 1925, Loughren said the store he runs in St. James City got its start on Pine Island in 1982. He admits he’s very proud of the store, as they were only one of six stores selected by SE Grocers to take part in the in-store birthday party celebrations across the nation.

“Because we do so much with the community, they picked us. They picked a store in each area, like West Florida, South Florida, Tampa and there were three others up North. I love doing things for the community, even though it’s often a lot of extra work, it feels good to help the community out,” Loughren said.

In addition to all the celebratory activities at the event, Loughren said the store was able to hand out free slices of Winn-Dixie gourmet carrot and rainbow cake for the customers to take home. The cakes, he said, will be left on sale for the rest of September.

The island Winn Dixie is at 9864 Stringfellow Road, just south of The Center, St. James City.

For more information about the long-time island store, please call 239-283-4404.

For more about SE Grocers, please visit its website at https://www.segrocers.com/.