Hundreds of employees affected by Food Lion closures

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Food Lion employees and customers say they're upset to hear the news that the corporate owner of the grocery chain will close 146 underperforming stores across the Southeast, including 20 in northeast Florida.

In less than 30 days, hundreds of people in the area who work for the stores will be without jobs. And given the current economy, finding new ones will not be an easy task.

"We really don't know where to go from here," said employee Jessica Davenport.

Davenport found out Wednesday night she was losing her only job as a cake decorator at a Westside Food Lion. She said what she'll miss the most are the shoppers.

"I really do like working here, and it's a shame to see them go," Davenport said.

Employees said they had no idea the closures were coming. Many of them said they were called to meetings at their stores at about 9 p.m. Wednesday, and their managers broke the news.

"It's sad really. Now I know everybody that's in here that I see all the time is not going to be working," Food Lion customer Marc Centeno said.

"I wouldn't think a big store like this would close, all of them," customer Alvin Williams added.

Karen Mathis, managing editor of the Financial News and Daily Record, said the company is trying to cut its losses, and unfortunately that means cutting jobs, a move that's not good for the local economy.

"In Florida, it's always been Publix because it's based in Lakeland, Winn-Dixie because it's based in Jacksonville, and Walmart because it's Walmart," Mathis said. "You have about 900 jobs minimum being lost in these layoffs, so you have about 900 people who are going to be out looking for jobs, and you have about 900 people who aren't going to be paying taxes or buying their own groceries right now, until they land on their feet."

Davenport said she'll move on because she has to. But she's worried about the other employees.

"A lot of my coworkers are single moms. What are they going to do?" Davenport said. "It's just them and their kids, and this is their only income."

The company said that employees do have the opportunity to transfer to other stores, but they would not be in Florida. That means the employees would have to move, something many of them said they're not willing or able to do.