Food City Builds Up Its Hardware Business
Food City officials celebrated the grand opening of its 14th Curt’s Ace Hardware on April 17 at East Stuart Drive in Galax, Va.
“Much like our Food City stores, we are excited to continue to grow and expand our Curt’s Ace Hardware family of stores,” said Steven C. Smith, president and CEO of Food City, which is operated by K-VA-T Food Stores. “Sadly, locally owned hardware stores are becoming a thing of the past. Having served in the grocery industry for 40-plus years, I have seen firsthand how important a local well-run supermarket is to the community, and I think the same holds true for local hardware stores.”
The company currently operates Curt’s Ace Hardware locations in Prestonsburg, Ky.; Morristown, Pigeon Forge, Newport, Erwin, Elizabethton, Gray, Piney Flats and Ocoee, Tenn.; and Bristol, Abingdon, Marion, and Lebanon, Va., with additional locations coming soon.
“We greatly appreciate the support of our loyal customers, and we want to leverage our Curt’s Ace Hardware brand to better serve the communities where we already do business,” said Smith. “Food City is the name you trust for your grocery needs; now we can help with your home and garden needs as well. Given our vast merchandising and marketing experience, our team has done an excellent job managing and operating these locations.”
Meanwhile, the company also recently opened a new 55,000-square-foot Food City store on Able Drive in Dayton, Tenn. The new store replaced an existing location on Market Street.
“We appreciate the support the residents of Dayton and Rhea County have shown our company, and we’re excited to provide our loyal customers with a much-needed new state-of-the-art Food City to better serve their needs,” said Smith.
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The location includes an in-store bakery and deli, complete with a hot food bar; a large café seating area; an Asian wok; a fresh food bar offering a variety of soup, salad and fruit selections; a hickory wood smoker; a pizza oven; and fresh sushi.
It also features full-service meat and seafood departments, a floral boutique, a pharmacy with a drive-thru, a Food City Gas N’ Go location, and a Starbucks cafe.
Abingdon, Va.-based K-VA-T Food Stores operates 159 retail outlets throughout Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama.
