Rise of the Discounters

Above: Both Bottom Dollar (top) and Just $ave Foods (bottom) have corny taglines throughout their stores reminding patrons of how far their dollar will go.

With names like 'Bottom Dollar,' 'Save-A-Lot,' and 'Just $ave Foods,' discount grocers with limited assortments and no-frills shopping experiences are rapidly expanding. With the popularity of ALDI, other stores have taken off on this concept here in North Carolina:

St. Louis-based Save A Lot (a division of SuperValu) opened a distribution center in Davidson County, and has also committed to opening a store in East Greensboro's food desert. Photos of the north Greensboro location:

Walmart opened some of their first "Express" stores in North Carolina, stores that are approximately the size of a CVS or Walgreens. These express stores work in communities that are too small to support a full scale Walmart. Photos of the Richfield, NC store:

Just $ave Foods is Lowes Foods' discounter, as former some Lowes Foods stores are being converted into this format. Photos from the Graham, NC store (former Winn Dixie)

And Bottom Dollar is Food Lion's discount counterpart. Recently a large expansion was announced for this concept. Photos from the Asheboro Store (formerly Food Lion)

They even sell Hannaford Drinking Water - to differentiate between Food Lion's own brand.

East Greensboro 'Food Desert' may see new life at Bessemer Shopping Center

At the heart of east Greensboro on Phillips Avenue lies a decrepit shopping center, only anchored by a Family Dollar surrounded by two dead anchor stores. One of these stores, a now boarded up Winn-Dixie, closed in 1998 leaving the neighborhood with no grocery store within walking distance. The city of Greensboro recently poured some life into the shopping center, called Bessemer Center, by building a brand new public library branch, and now they hope to sprout some new life on the retail scene as well.

City leaders say that low traffic counts is the reason that the center hasn't seen a new store, but locals cite the blight and crime in the area to be contributing factors. However, in recent years efforts have been made to renovate housing projects and reduce crime in the neighborhood. The Winn-Dixie label scar reminds us of what used to be, but come the end of this year that may change as a new grocery store may fill this space.

What are your thoughts on what might materialize at the center? Could it be a full-line store such as Food Lion or a discounter like Save A Lot, Bottom Dollar or Just Save foods. Leave a comment below.

10/6/2011 Update: Save A Lot will move into this shopping center.

1/12/2012 Update 2: Save A Lot has pulled out of this project... we will follow up.