The Jacksonville job market is about to be flooded with an army of workers who have experience working in grocery stores. Food Lion is closing down its operations in the Jacksonville area along with the rest of Florida, and one of the unfortunate side effects is that it there will be a considerable number of people joining the ranks of the unemployed. 20 stores will be closed, with the number of employees at each store averaging out at about 35 employees. There will be 12 stores closed in the metro area and eight more in surrounding areas.

Delhaize, which is Food Lion’s Belgian parent company parent company, is cutting the stores and thus the jobs because they had a disappointing fourth quarter. The losses are largely due to competition from Publix, the most dominant grocery store chain in the state. The closings are not limited to Florida, but they do appear to be concentrated in the state. 113 of the 146 total store-closings in the US will be in Florida alone.

While Food Lion has said that some of the workers may receive severance packages, they will all eventually be seeking jobs, which is likely to impact the recent slight dip in Jacksonville-area unemployment figures. The CEO of Delhaize, has stated that while they are aware of the problems this will cause for their employees they also have a responsibility to their shareholders to curtail losses. The company has seen a 21 percent drop in the value of its stock over the last year.

Delhaize will not be closing the other 1,127 stores it operates across the United States.