Grocery Store Winn Dixie Opens Eco Friendly Store

Winn-Dixie on Wednesday opened its first newly built store since 2004 -- a 55,000-sq.-ft. unit in Covington, La.The Covington location is the first grocery store in Louisiana to receive the Environmental Protection Agency's GreenChill certification, based on its ability to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease the impact on the ozone layer and climate change.

The store also showcases Winn-Dixie’s latest design concepts, which includes polished wood flooring, stained concrete flooring, and an exposed beam ceiling. At the entrance, a sleek, modern glass-front exterior overarches a covered walkway."We are very proud to be able to offer this beautiful store to the neighbors and communities of Covington," said Winn-Dixie Chairman, CEO and President Peter Lynch. "Not only does it provide a best-in-class shopping experience, but it brings 200 new jobs to the area as well."

Winn Dixie Has a formal and wide reaching Sustainability Policy.They define sustainability as "the business strategies and practices that promote the long-term well-being of the environment and society, as well as the financial heath of our Company.We're committed to saving energy, looking for new ways to recycle, protecting the planet and providing healthy products and services to our customers and neighbors every day."

They Use LED Lighting in their Stores to Save Energy


* Roughly one-third of Winn Dixie stores are equipped with LED lighting systems that reduce energy usage by 70% (in comparison to traditional lighting). These lights are used in the Produce, Floral, Natural Foods, Meat and Frozen Foods departments, as well as in our Marquee Lighting.

* Almost 40% of stores were retrofitted with energy systems that automatically control internal and external lighting.

* All stores have sweatmisers which save energy by switching the freezer door-heat "on" only when needed.

* They retrofit all of their store lighting fixtures from T-12 lighting to more efficient T-8 lighting.

Sponsor- Redbird LED, an Atlanta based designer and manufacturer of LED Tube lights offers a number of products for Grocery Stores. LED Tube lights not only save energy and maintenance costs but also operate more efficiently in refrigerated environments. They recently launched a web site for grocery store lighting- www.groceryledlighting.com