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Spartanburg, S.C., Area to Get Upscale Food Lions

Posted on: Tuesday, 11 April 2006, 15:00 CDT

By Susan Orr, Herald-Journal, Spartanburg, S.C.

Apr. 9--Food Lion will have a whole new look when it enters the Spartanburg market later this year.

The Salisbury, N.C.-based grocer is building nine new stores in the Upstate, including locations in Lyman, Roebuck and Greer. The first new store will open in Lyman in June, and it will be the company's second location built under its new prototype.

The new stores sport a more upscale look, larger wine and organic/natural food selections, and other features designed for ease of shopping.

The first such store opened in December in Rutherfordton, N.C., and all new Food Lions now are built using this model.

Under the new prototype, the layout is designed to emphasize Food Lion's fresh food departments -- produce, deli/bakery and meats.

The produce department is at the front entrance, with wood-look flooring, cheerful lighting and display carts built to resemble a farmer's market atmosphere.

Deli/bakery and meat departments are adjacent to the produce section. The new stores also have an expanded wine selection and a new section dedicated to organic and natural foods.

Throughout the store, aisles are a bit wider and shelves are a bit lower, to make it easier for customers to navigate the aisles and reach top-shelf items.

Prominent signs and different types of flooring are meant to give each department a unique look so customers can more easily find what they need.

Food Lion's corporate communications manager, Jeff Lowrance, said his company stands by its traditional promise of low prices. But, he said, the new prototype stores also signal that Food Lion is also interested in making its stores more pleasant to shop in. "We know the customers appreciate it, and we think if you offer a better shopping experience, customers will come back," Lowrance said.

The grocery industry is more competitive than ever, Lowrance said, with "supercenter" discount stores, drug and dollar stores and warehouse club retailers all offering products that compete with traditional grocery stores.

"There's a lot more choices now for shopping," Lowrance said.

"Retailers in general have to be on their toes. They have to know their customers and they have to continually offer something customers want."

Aside from revamping its core line, Food Lion is also making other changes in efforts to attract more customers.

The company's stores in Greer, Greenville, Anderson, Mauldin and Seneca will open under the Bloom name, which debuted in 2004.

Currently the company operates five Bloom stores, all in the Charlotte, N.C. area.

Food Lion describes Bloom as a "lifestyle store" that focuses on convenience and offers products including fresh seafood, an extensive wine and cheese selection, specially baked breads, natural and organic products, international produce items and more.

And last year Food Lion announced it would introduce a new discount grocery concept, Bottom Dollar. The company operates three Bottom Dollar stores , all of them in North Carolina -- High Point, Asheboro and Mt. Airy. A fourth location will open in Hickory, N.C. next month.

A diverse -- and different -- approach One grocery industry observer said Food Lion's diverse approach sets it apart from other area grocery chains.

Retailers usually pick one niche and stick with it, whether that niche is more upscale (Publix) or more bargain-oriented (Wal-Mart), said Lorrie Griffith, editor of Georgia-based grocery trade publication "The Shelby Report."

In contrast, Food Lion has developed various models that it can use to attract customers in different markets.

"It is unusual, different from its competitors in South Carolina especially," Griffith said.

Griffith said Food Lion's recent changes should not be seen as a sign that the company is struggling in the marketplace.

According to "The Shelby Report's" data, Food Lion currently has 127 stores in South Carolina and is the state's third largest in terms of market share, with 13 percent of the market. It ranks behind Wal-Mart, which has 30 percent of market share with 48 Supercenter stores, and Bi-Lo, which has 20 percent of market share with 137 stores.

In its most recent earnings report, released in mid March, Food Lion parent company The Delhaize Group reported net U.S. sales of $16.6 million in 2005, up 4.4 percent over 2004. (Delhaize's American operations also include Hannaford, Kash n' Karry and Sweetbay Supermarket stores).

The company saw a profit of $901 million last year, up 7.2 percent over 2004.

The new store prototype appears to be well received at the Rutherfordton store.

Nancy Robbins of Forest City, N.C. said she never used to shop at Food Lion. She changed her mind, though, when she learned that the new store had added organic items and an expanded bakery selection to its lineup.

"It has more things here that I can't find anywhere else," Robbins said as she shopped.

Michelle Younce, the previous Rutherfordton store manager, said she did not expect how popular the natural and organic items would become, since her store did not carry such items before.

"It was definitely a surprise, but a nice one. It's doing well," said Younce, who has since left Rutherfordton and will manage one of the company's new Greenville stores.

Younce said she thinks the Rutherfordton store has picked up some new customers because of the new emphasis on natural/organic items and wines.

Customers say they love the changes, Younce said, and she's heard lots of compliments about the colorful produce department in particular.

"I've never seen people so excited to come shopping."

FOOD LION LOCATIONS

By the end of this year, Food Lion will open nine new Food Lion and Bloom stores in the Upstate. Here's where they'll be located:

--Lyman: Highway 29 at Old Spartanburg Road

--Roebuck: Highway 221 at Highway 215

--Also: Piedmont, Bloom locations

--Greer: 1203 W. Wade Hampton Blvd.

--Greenville: (two locations) Pleasantburg Road at Augusta Road, and Highway 14 at Batesville Road

--Also: Mauldin, Anderson and Seneca

FOOD LION FACTS

--Food Lion LLC is a subsidiary of European company Delhaize Group, based in Brussels.

--Food Lion operates 1,300 Food Lion, Bloom, Bottom Dollar, Harveys and Reid's stores in 11 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states.

--More than 10 million people shop at Food Lion stores each week.

--Food Lion has 124 stores in South Carolina, including locations in Gaffney and Blacksburg. It has plans to open nine Food Lion and Bloom stores in the Upstate by the end of this year, including locations in Lyman, Roebuck and Greer.

--The company has seven distribution centers in five states, including one in Elloree.

Source: www.foodlion.com

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To see more of the Herald-Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.GoUpstate.com.

Copyright (c) 2006, Herald-Journal, Spartanburg, S.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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DEG, DELB,

Source: Herald-Journal

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