Southeastern Grocers Teams With City Refrigeration

City Refrigeration, a U.K. company specializing in commercial refrigerators and freezers, will perform maintenance and repair work for Jacksonville, Fla.-based Southeastern Grocers, parent company of 750 Winn-Dixie, Bi-Lo and Harveys supermarkets, according to a published report. The vendor also intends to open its U.S. headquarters in Jacksonville’s Cypress Point Business Park.

The Glascow, Scotland-based company, in operation since 1985, revealed plans to employ more than 365 technical and administrative personnel in seven states, the Jacksonville Business Journal reported this week.

The publication also noted that Southeastern Grocers CEO Ian McLeod has had a relationship with City Refrigeration going back to his tenure as the head of Australian food retailer Coles, for which the company currently provides a “total facilities management solution.”

Holly Angel, Southeastern Grocers’ SVP of store development, told the Journal, “City is offering to teach our technicians new skills, the new tools they need, and 24-hour support to all of our banners,” adding that the vendor’s facilities maintenance services would enable the grocer “to focus on our customers, and invest that saved money in lowering prices.”