BREAKING NEWS: Food Lion's parent company in talks to acquire Bi-Lo assets

(Associated Press 10/5/2009)

Belgian international food retailer Delhaize Group is in talks to buy shops and inventory worth $425 million from South Carolina-based BI-LO, a grocery chain that entered bankruptcy proceedings earlier this year.

In a statement Monday, Delhaize Group said it was in non-binding talks to acquire “a substantial majority” of BI-LO LLC's assets. It said the assets to be acquired had revenue of over $2 billion last year.

Delhaize said it intends to integrate BI-LO's shops into its Food Lion chain of shops. Food Lion has more than 1,300 stores in 11 states with 74,000 employees.

Mauldin, S.C.-based BI-LO LLC is a privately held company that operates 214 supermarkets in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee and employs around 15,500 people. It filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in March.

Delhaize said the offer was subject to bankruptcy court approvals and that it hoped to complete a transaction after obtaining a non-appealable sale order from the court.

A representative for BI-LO could not be immediately reached for comment.

We will update this story as more information becomes available.

(Stores photographed are in Statesville, NC)

Innovative way to compare prices at the grocery store

Grocerying has found a terrific new tool to use while trying to save money at the grocery store! WRAL-TV, Channel 5 in Raleigh, has compiled data and put it on their website. The items compared consist of everyday items that many people would purchase on an average trip to the grocery store. The list is comprised of apples, bacon, bananas, bread, butter, cheddar cheese, chicken breast, cola, eggs, ground beef, lettuce, milk, steak and sugar. WRAL-TV takes these items and compares them not only at five Raleigh grocery stores (Wal-Mart SuperCenter, Lowes Foods, Kroger, Harris Teeter and Food Lion); but they additionally compare it to the prices provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Not surprisingly, Wal-Mart has the lowest overall price on these items ringing in at $27.74, well below the next cheapest (which may surprise some of you) which is Harris Teeter coming in at $32.32. Right behind Harris Teeter is Kroger, at only pennies more with a total of $32.38. Then we have Food Lion at $34.54 followed by Lowes Foods’ comparable $34.76 and finally the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics with a grand total of $35.77. Their methodology provides that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is based on the south region. In addition, you can click “Show Trends” and see a line graph of all the stores prices over the past year - which shows a trend of falling prices between September 2008 and September 2009. A very neat tool to use indeed.

Link to Grocery Cart Tracker: http://www.wral.com/news/local/flash/2603702/

The Harris Teeter that time forgot: Danville, Virginia

Yes, believe it or not, these photos were taken in 2009. Talk about a throwback! The Harris Teeter store in the former mill town of Danville, Virginia (about 40 minutes north of Greensboro, NC) looks like it has not been updated since the early 1990s at best. This store is an anomaly in itself, being the only Harris Teeter store in southside Virginia. The front of the store still sports the old Harris Teeter logo, something rarely found these days. The question is: does Harris Teeter really want to keep this store open? If Harris Teeter really wanted to stay in Danville in the long term, it would seem that they would have updated the store by now. It is in a demographically depressed area of Virginia, that has the highest unemployment numbers in the state. Perhaps it's only fitting that the Harris Teeter that time forgot be in the town that time forgot.

New updates to come & in the news...

Grocerying will be featuring a slew of new updates, with full photo features of grocery store exterior and interiors and information. For new, here are some headlines making news concerning local grocery stores.

Quick Rundown:
Harris Teeter bidding on Ukrop's?
Food Lion converting stores to 'Sabor Latino'
Going Green at Harris Teeter and Food Lion
What's the big deal over deli meats?

Is Harris Teeter headed to the Richmond, Virginia market? It looks entirely possible... Ukrop's stores may become Harris Teeter stores. Ukrop's is around the same price point as Harris Teeter, and Richmond residents know Ukrop's as their "hometown grocery store," as most of their locations are in Richmond, 26 of them, and then 3 others -- in Fredericksburg, Williamsburg, and Roanoke. (We have a feeling though that if Harris Teeter does in fact buy Ukrop's, the Roanoke store probably will be sold to Kroger or someone else). Some have argued that because Ukrop's doesn't sell alcohol, and because they aren't open on Sunday, that this has hurt business... it was recently announced that Food Lion has become the market leader in Richmond. Other prominent grocery stores in Richmond are Kroger, Wal-Mart Super Center, and a few stores with one or two locations, or specialty stores, such as Farm Fresh Supervalu (another potential buyer for Ukrop's), Whole Foods, Fresh Market and Trader Joe's. Read more about this story in the Business Journal and voice your opinion below.

Moving on, you may see changes at some area Food Lion stores. Food Lion is targeting the Latino population for their new concept store "Sabor Latino," which means "Latin Flavor." The Raleigh News & Observer is reporting that by the time the conversion is complete, roughly 59 stores or 10% of Food Lion's 503 stores in North Carolina will be converted to the new brand. It's a very interesting change coming for Food Lion, and it looks like they want to better compete with other Hispanic-targeted grocery stores such as Compare Foods. The initial five test stores performed well enough to warrant this expansion. Read more about it here.

In other Grocerying news, Food Lion is building its first LEED certified store in Columbia, S.C. According to The Progressive Grocer, the Salisbury, N.C.-based grocery store chain will be going green and opening this environmentally responsible grocery store in the fourth quarter of 2009. The store will include:

--High-efficiency lighting that dims lights based on natural sunlight in the
store or when areas such as offices or restrooms are not in use
--LED lighting in
the frozen food cases
--Low-flow and sensor-activated water fixtures in
restrooms
--Native plant species that minimize irrigation requirements
--Enhanced air quality for associates and customers by using low-toxicity materials and implementing proactive management plans throughout construction to ensure
optimal indoor air quality
--Purchasing a significant amount of building
materials manufactured within 500 miles of each location to boost local
economies and reduce energy expended on transportation
--Waste management plans
to divert construction waste from landfills through recycling

Read more about this in The Progressive Grocer

Speaking of LEED certification, which if you're curious stands for leadership in energy and environmental design, Harris Teeter has opened its first LEED certified store outside Charlottesville, V.A. in the town of Crozet in May. At first glace, it may look like a typical Harris Teeter store, but at a closer look you will notice what makes this Harris Teeter green are features such as indoor skylights which bring in enough natural lights to reduce the energy consumption by 25% over a typical grocery store. More information plus photos of the 'green' Harris Teeter in the Crozet Gazette.

Lastly, there seems to be a big debate over deli meats...

Bi-Lo closing in Charlotte's Dilworth neighborhood, to be replaced by Bloom store

The Bi-Lo store at Dilworth Crossing in Charlotte, at the corner of Park Road and Ideal Way, is set to close this week after serving the Dilworth Community since 1988. But the history of the store dates back to a few years prior, when residents were engaged in a debate as to whether a grocery store should be built in their neighborhood or not. The Kroger Company wanted to build a store in this historic streetcar suburb, thus spurring the phrase "No Krogering In Dilworth." A photograph of the sign can be seen on Groceteria. Prior to Bi-Lo's renovation of the store, the Dilworth store was one of Kroger's classic"greenhouse" style stores. You can still find the remnants of Kroger Greenhouse style stores around Charlotte these days converted into something else.

Currently, the Bi-Lo store encompasses around 45,000 square feet, and the interior seems like it was remodeled in the mid-to-late 90s but Grocerying does not officially know when the updates took place. The store also has been patroned by residents not only in Dilworth, but residents of the Wilmore community and other lower income areas, respectively, near I-77 for whom the store has provided as an alternative to neighborhood stores and the lack of having a full size grocery store in their immediate area. Bi-Lo has noted that the closing of their Dilworth store is not related to their recent filing for bankruptcy protection. According to the Charlotte Observer, the reason for Bi-Lo's departure from Dilworth is due to terms in their lease agreement, as the owner of the center wants to bring in a store that would better suit the neighborhood, which over the last 20 years has gone through a redevelopment of sorts of its own.

Many feel that Bi-Lo has struggled to find a niche, especially in the Charlotte market, as their stores in the lower-to-middle end are closing and as the concept of Super Bi-Lo is being tested in the market. Because the Bi-Lo store in Dilworth is in a prime location in what some may call a trendy neighborhood, the store will not sit vacant for long. Bloom, the "high tech" and more upscale market run by Food Lion, will construct a 55,000 square foot location in its space. Grabbing the location is a real boon for Bloom. Currently, their stores are on the fringes of the Charlotte area, and this will be their first real in-town location in south Charlotte, a region of town that is dominated by Harris Teeter. The Bloom store is scheduled to open by the end of the year.

More photos of the interior and exterior of the store:




The sign reads: "Our Park Road Bi-Lo will be closing on 4-25 Saturday at 7 p.m. We have enjoyed serving the community since 1988 and hnope you visit us at our other Charlotte locations. Thank you"

Food, Inc.

Rethinking the way we purchase some of our food and how it gets to our grocery stores. Find out more information here.

Changes Coming to North Raleigh's Grocerying Scene

To begin, above is the rendering for Northern Wake County's new Whole Foods store. This store will be located at the southeast corner of Strickland and Six Forks roads at Collonade Center Drive. The rendering is from the grassroots committee website BringWholeFoods.org and the developer, Regency Centers. According to the website, their aim is to bring a Whole Foods store to North Raleigh that would serve the affluent and expanding population of this area. Perhaps the most alarming news out of this situation, still, is that Whole Foods is planning on bringing a fifth store to the Triangle region, while Charlotte has zero. We will keep all readers updated on the progress of this store, and read more about it at Bring Whole Foods.

Moving on, the Raleigh News & Observer is reporting that the Trader Joe's slated for North Raleigh has been delayed but is still set to open in 2009, just not the spring. This Trader Joe's location was announced in November 2007, and is slated to open a store in the Holly Park Shopping Center, located at Wake Forest Road and I-440. Holly Park is owned by Charlotte developer Lat Purser and Associates, and they also own 2 other shopping centers with Trader Joe's in North Carolina-- The Shops at Piper Glen and The Arbors on Mallard Creek. The new Trader Joe's in Raleigh will encompass 13,000 square feet (typical size for a Trader Joe's) and it will be the first store in Raleigh city limits. There are two other Trader Joe's in the Triangle already, one in Cary and one in Chapel Hill. Holly Park is one of the oldest shopping centers in Raleigh, and its redevelopment and recasting is a welcome sight to area residents, many of whom are elated that a Trader Joe's will anchor.

Finally, many residents of the North Hills area of Raleigh are excited as a two-story grocery store will open at the North Hills East redevelopment called St. Albans. It will be a relocation of the current Harris Teeter at Lassiter Mill, and the new store will encompass 48,200 square feet. The Triangle Business Jounral reported this story last year, and the store is set to open in late 2009. The developer, Kane Realty Corporation, has provided a site plan here.

In a tough economy, growth and expansion is a welcomed sight and it would be a delight to see all of these projects pull through and reach their full potential, but it is not a big surprise to see this development in the fastest growing metro area in the country. Know of any other changes to North Raleigh's grocerying scene? Leave us comments and lets us know!

Grocerying in Southwest Virginia

Here are some photos of stores in mostly rural Southwest Virginia. These photos are courtesy jerseyman4, and they include Kroger - the dominant grocery store in this region - and Food City, a regional chain based in Abingdon, Virginia. Food City also has stores in parts of Tennessee and Kentucky. This Food City is unrelated to other Food City chains, such as the ones found in Arizona and the ones in the New York City area. Additionally seen are the discount department stores Roses and Magic Mart. Photos are from Galax, VA.

Bi-Lo files for bankruptcy protection

In recent years, Bi-Lo has seen a lot of ups and downs. The grocer is in a unique position, trying to find a niche with itself between discount grocer and semi-upscale hyper-market. With a tough economy, the chain which is based near Greenville, South Carolina has filed for bankruptcy protection. Since 2005, Bi-Lo stores have dwindled more than they have prospered, as they were sold off from Ahold to Lone Star Funds along with their sister supermarket Bruno's. Many stores were shuttered or turned to C&S Wholesale's Southern Family Markets, which failed miserably. Some may say this was inevitable, but doesn't come as a major surprise. Despite the bankruptcy protection filing, Bi-Lo says they will continue to operate stores as normal. Read more about this from the Greenville News here. The pictured store is in Rutherfordton, NC.

Grocerying at a different kind of Wal-Mart in High Point, NC

The newly renovated Wal-Mart store on North Main Street at Hartley Drive in High Point: It's not quite a supercenter, nor is it quite a regular Wal-Mart, but a colorful hybrid of sorts. I have never seen a Wal-Mart store like this, and the new design is definitely intriguing. This Wal-Mart store was remodeled last year and re-opened recently. While High Point got a new supercenter on South Main Street in the location of a former Winn-Dixie Shopping Center, Wal-Mart closed its original High Point Store on North Main Street and remodeled it: It originally looked like this. Now, its exterior looks just like the new supercenter on the south end of High Point, except not as large. But the interior is anything but typical. Here are some camera-phone photos of the interior of store. Hope to get more photos of both stores!

Compare Foods - Independence Shopping Center

Compare Foods came onto the North Carolina grocerying scene a few years ago, and its popularity is undeniable. The store caters to a more ethnic crowd, particularly Latinos, but their stores are popular amongst all backgrounds. The store generally does not build new buildings, but is very green and economical in its efforts to re-use former grocery stores, such as the former Winn Dixie in Rock Hill. Patrons have stated to Grocerying that the value, freshness and variety of food makes it a unique fixture on the scene. The interesting thing about their stores is that they also reuse fixtures that were generally left in place from the previous store, and not only that, but are one of the few grocers to showcase their stores via photos on their websites. So if you remember what a mid-90s Harris Teeter looked like, these photos are almost like having a flashback to the signs. The Harris Teeter at Independence Shopping Center (Independence Boulevard-Hwy 74 at Idlewild Road in East Charlotte) was one of the oldest operating stores in the chain, built in 1970 and enjoyed a 35 year run closing in 2005. The store size today is approximately 40,000 square feet. Compare Foods has other Carolinas locations in the aforementioned Rock Hill, and additionally in the Triad and Triangle. See more photos inside the store via Compare Foods' website here.

(Harris Teeter photo via Charlotte Mecklenburg Real Estate Lookup; Compare Foods photo via CompareSupermarkets.com)

Future Lowes Foods - Wesley Chapel, NC

This Lowes Foods is under construction in Union County, North Carolina in Wesley Chapel, roughly between the historic town of Waxhaw, the county seat of Monroe and the suburban Weddington. It will be Lowes Foods' second store in Union County, the first being in Stallings just across the Mecklenburg County line at I-485 and Idlewild Road. The store is a significant symbol of Northern and Western Union County's rapid growth, due to its proximity to Charlotte, lower taxes and school system. The area has seen other big developments pop up, particularly at the intersection where this Lowes Foods is going -- there is a Harris Teeter across the street, and a new Target shopping center diagonally across from the Lowes Foods. Additionally, Waxhaw has seen major development come their way with a new medical center and shopping center including a Lowe's Home Improvement store. Grocerying will get an update of this store when it is complete, as the exterior design of the store is an interesting one.

Bloom grocery stores expanding to The Triangle area

Grocerying has learned that Bloom, the upscale and high-tech grocery store operated by Food Lion, is expanding into the Raleigh area of North Carolina. Stay tuned for more on this, hopefully to be accompanied by photos!

Before & After: Harris Teeter/Earth Fare, Rock Hill

Grocerying has a post from 2006 citing the Harris Teeter near downtown Rock Hill, South Carolina closing. Well now we finally have a photo of the new and thriving Earth Fare that replaced it.

Charlotte to get a Grocery Co-Op?

In the previous post, we discussed the large national natural foods retailer Whole Foods and their inability to come to a solid decision on building a Charlotte location. Something else that does not have a true presence in Charlotte is a grocery cooperative, or co-op, which some may dub the "Anti-Whole Foods." As much as we hate to compare Charlotte to other cities in the Carolinas, which we realize was done at length in the previous post, it's only natural to do so. We've had local and organic markets that have prospered despite increased competition, such as Home Economist and Berrybrook Farm, and those that have not, like Charlotte's original Talley's and the short-lived Nude Food. But what is the difference between one of those stores and a co-op? CoOpDirectory.org has a good explanation as to what a grocery co-op exactly is. Additionally, we liked the explanation that was provided by The Flatbush Food Co-Op in Brooklyn: "A coop is simply a business entity owned and managed by its members. A group of people get together, pool some money (called equity), and purchase whatever goods they want at a lower price than going elsewhere, since there are no profits to be skimmed off." Many co-op's have gone all-organic, as well, and try to buy as much local and sustainable food as possible.

Co-ops in the North Carolina include Asheville's French Broad Food Co-op and Haywood Road Market, Carrboro/Chapel Hill's popular Weaver Street Market, which includes satellite loactions in Southern Village and Hillsborough in Orange County as well, Durham's Co-Op, Greensboro's Deep Roots and Wilmington's Tidal Creek Market. Co-ops are located in some of NC's smaller municaplities as well, like Boone's Rich Harvest, Hendersonville's Co-Op, Pittsboro's Chatham Marketplace and Elon's Company Shops. Fayetteville has even landed a Co-op, Lafayette Market, which is modeled after Chatham Marketplace.

So that brings us to the question: Will Charlotte establish a true cooperative grocer? According to a source, one may be in the works for a NoDa (North Davidson district) location perhaps. Stay tuned...

Will Charlotte ever get a Whole Foods Market?

(Above, Whole Foods' original proposed rendering for store in Charlotte's Elizbaeth neighborhood)

In 2004, Charlotteans who'd been long-hoping for a Whole Foods to land in Charlotte were delighted to hear that Grubb's Elizabeth Avenue redevelopment project would include the area's first store, at the corner of Hawthorne Lane and Elizabeth Avenue. This never materlized, however, and now it seems that a Fresh Market will occupy at least part of that space. Still, Charlotteans who wanted Whole Foods to come to Charlotte thought that they'd at least get a SouthPark location, which would be directly across the street from the Morocroft Harris Teeter and the Morrison Earth Fare on the site of the Colony Apartments. But on last check on Whole Foods' own website, that has been taken off of the upcoming projects list having people questioning Grocerying and asking "what gives?"... We don't have any answers as to why Whole Foods seems to keep skipping over Charlotte, because the demographics are prime and, well, the demand in Charlotte is definitely high as ever.

(Above: Whole Foods locations across the Carolinas)

A frequently asked question is "Why do cities like Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Winston-Salem have Whole Foods, yet all of them are smaller than Charlotte?"... The partial answer is that Whole Foods took over The Wellspring Markets in the Triangle and Winston-Salem and then subsequently converted them to Whole Foods Stores. However, upon checking Whole Foods' website for upcoming locations in NC, in addition to finding that the SouthPark location had been removed, we discovered that Raleigh is getting another brand new location on the north side of that city! Furthermore, the South Carolina cities of Charleston (Mount Pleasant) and Greenville have landed relatively new Whole Foods stores, both cities whose populations are far lesser than Charlotte's is.

As we've mentioned before, Charlotte does have its fair share of local, regional and national chain of natural food markets, but there is just something about having the Whole Foods Name that distinguishes a city, right? What are your thoughts on this issue? Leave some comments!

(Store photos via WholeFoods.com, Whole Foods Elizabeth Rendering via Little Architecture)

Grocerying at Harris Teeter's Flagship

Exterior Photo taken Thanksgiving Day, 2005
Interior Photos taken December 23, 2008

Harris Teeter's Morrocroft Village Flagship Store in Charlotte's SouthPark is the largest store in the entire chain, according to the Mecklenburg County Tax Website it encompasses over 72,000 square feet -- rivaling the size of the HT store at Greensboro's Shops at Friendly Center. The Morrocroft store opened in 1992, replacing the old Harris Teeter at SouthPark Mall, and was created to be a new generation of Harris Teeter flagship stores. Indeed - at the time, especially - Charlotte hadn't seen a grocery store like this and it gained notiriety and the nickname as the original "Taj-Ma-Teeter." Today it is still thriving as one of the busiest stores in Charlotte and one of the busiest HT's in the entire chain.

Also, although Harris Teeter didn't last in Atlanta (to the dismay of many), their initial success was credited to Harris Teeter's Morocroft design. See related article: HT Success in Atlanta began at Morrocroft.

Update: Our friend Pat (of Charlotte Eats and Charlotte Ads) has graciously provided this photo of the Morrocroft store from 1992, noting that a renovation in the late 90s changed this section:
Update 2:
More photos (via cameraphone)

Bi-Lo Independence Square Update

We've recently learned that the Bi-Lo store at Charlotte's Independence Square on Independence Boulevard has closed. This is the latest store to close on a quickly deteriorating "corridor of crap" where everything is seemingly moving south on US 74, or to the Uptown/Midtown area, leaving a black hole in between. The Steve & Barry's store, which took over the former Super K-mart Center on Independence Boulevard is closing as well, soon to leave another big empty 200,000 square foot store.

Before & After: The Transformation of a Raleigh Wal-Mart

Raleigh's Wal-Mart Supercenter off of New Hope Church Road started out originally as just a regular Wal-Mart. According to the Wake County tax website, the store originally opened in 1993 and then in 2004 was renovated and expanded. The Wake County Tax site is one of the most comprehensive tax websites in the state, storing photos of buildings from the mid-90s to present day. Because of this, we can chronicle the time line of the Wal-Mart's transformation.

See more photos here

More Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's quick expansion into the Carolinas is evident: they now have 3 stores in the Charlotte region, including the one pictured above at Mallard Creek Church's Arbors in the University City section of Charlotte. Their other two locations in the Queen City include Rea Road in the Ballantyne & Piper Glen area of Southern Mecklenburg County, and one just outside Charlotte's uptown region in Midtown (pictured below). Additionally, they have stores in Cary serving the Raleigh area, and a store in Chapel Hill serving Orange and Durham counties and the surrounding areas, as TJ's is popular with the college students as well. Now, Trader Joe's has announced its first South Carolina location will be going in Greenville, bringing TJ's to the Upstate. We wonder who could be next... The Triad & Greensboro perhaps? Hopefully... stay tuned!