50,000 jobs in Southeast at risk as Southeastern Grocers discuss bankruptcy

Margins are very thin in this business. If you don't have cash in the bank to do some serious "forward buying" and/or diverting, you're screwed. Buying, in general, is where you make your money (any fool can sell). That's why Wal Mart is so competitive - they beat up their vendors until they bleed.

That said, manufacturers are infamous for hoarding the lions share of the profit pie in the grocery world. People like P&G, General Mills, etc, are socking it away and letting distributors wither on the vine, knowing full-well that a new player will show up to fill the vacuum.

My first-hand experience with WD: they run a loose ship at retail level. Their employees seem to have good intentions, but I sense a lack of leadership at store level. Not sure how their DM's perform; how often or how much time they spend with store managers. Any way you cut it, it's a tough, unglamorous business.

Landlords don't exactly help the profit picture either.

Economics 101. You have to compete on price or experience/differentiation. People who play in the middle eventually get crushed by both sides... retail history is full of those stories.

The only time Winn Dixie in NOLA is competitive on price is sometimes, on their sale items that you have to use their card for. Their non-sale prices are astronomical. Nor are their stores in an way customer-service oriented. Lines are long, items are out of stock, stores are dirty, and employees generally don't give a crap.

They might have gotten away with that 20-30 years ago. But in today's ultra-competitive environment, that won't work.