Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., et al. v. Dolgencorp, LLC, et al., No. 12-14527 (11th Cir. 2014)

Winn-Dixie filed suit claiming that it suffered more than $90 million in lost profits because Defendants Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Big Lots violated, and continue to violate, the restrictive covenants limiting grocery sales by other tenants in a shopping center in which Winn-Dixie was the anchor store. The court held that, for forty-one Florida stores, the district court misapplied Florida law in determining whether defendants had violated Winn-Dixie's restrictive covenants; the court reversed and remanded for these stores for a new trial based on a definition of "staple or fancy groceries" and "sales area" consistent with the holding of the Florida Third District Court of Appeals; the court held that the district court applied incorrect state law in determining whether defendants had violated the terms of restrictive covenants at thirteen stores in Alabama and Georgia; the court reversed and remanded for interpretation of covenants binding these Alabama and Georgia stores in accordance with the appropriate law of each state; and the court affirmed as to the forty-three remaining stores for which the district court denied all relief on other grounds.