Decline and Bankruptcy
In the mid-1990s, after merging with New York investment firm Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co., the chain became debt-ridden, and its ill-advised 1997 acquisition of Delchamps didn't help the situation. In 2000, Winn-Dixie acquired Jitney Jungle and Delchamps, and rebranded the stores to Winn-Dixie.
In 2005, Winn-Dixie closed a large number of stores, including most of its stores in Mississippi that had previously been Jitney Jungle stores. Some of these stores remain closed, with no particular prospects of being acquired and reopened. Others have taken on new lives.
The chain's store on East Fortification Street in Jackson, still known to many Jacksonians as "Jitney 14," remains open today as part of a relatively new local grocery chain called McDade's, which also owns former Jitney stores on Duling Avenue in the Fondren area of Jackson and most recently the former Jitney which closed after Winn-Dixie's departure on Ellis Avenue in Westland Plaza Shopping Center.
The oldest among the Jitney stores still in operation are the Fondren store and the old Jitney 14 on East Fortification. The Fondren Jitney store started in the mid-to-late 19th century as a David's Fondren Grocery. It later operated as an A&P Food Store, a Jitney Jungle, and most recently a Winn-Dixie. The original David's Fondren Grocery is no longer in business but the commercial center it started still operates today as a member of McDade's Market.
Another store that recently reopened this year is the old "Jitney Jungle # 4" at 311 West Northside Drive in Jackson. This store was closed by Jitney Jungle on February 18, 2000 and soon after became part of the New Deal Supermarket chain based in Jacksonand owned by former Jitney District Supervisor Kenneth Leakes. This store was closed in 2005 by New Deal as part of its plan to divest under-performing stores. This store was never sold; it was reopened in 2007 as a Grocery Warehouse type store under New Deal's plan to rebuild the company. This location was never remodeled and still sits today with the old Jitney Jungle decor design inside and out.
Jitney owned and operated under the brands Jitney Jungle, Jitney Premier, Sack & Save, MegaMarket, Delchamps and Pump & Save.
Read more about this topic: Jitney Jungle
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