Food Lion Remodels 112 Mid-Atlantic Stores

Food Lion has rolled out 112 remodeled stores across Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, offering shoppers a larger variety of new products and services and an improved shopping experience.

Also as part of the $212.5 million investment in the stores, the grocer hired more than 2,300 associates, which Food Lion said would generate $360 million in economic impact across the communities served by these stores, citing an economic impact study from Towson University’s Regional Economic Studies Institute (RESI). Further, Food Lion’s remodels are expected to raise state and local tax revenues by $40 million across the five states, according to the retailer.

“Nourishing our neighbors in the towns and cities we serve is core to everything we do, and we’re excited to welcome customers to their fresh, new Food Lion," noted Meg Ham, president of Food Lion. "Neighbors, many who have shopped in their local Food Lion for decades, are now able to enjoy a new grocery shopping experience through the significant investments in our stores, associates and communities.”

To mark the completion of the remodels, each store will offer random giveaways ranging from reusable shopping bags to gift cards.

Store upgrades include:

• A bigger variety and assortment across all departments relevant to customers at each store;
• More local items in the Local Goodness section;
• A larger range of craft beer and limited-reserve wines;
• More natural, organic and gluten-free items;
• A huge selection of fresh produce and meat backed by Food Lion's double-your-money-back guarantee, and a larger selection of Nature’s Promise beef, pork, poultry, milk, eggs, bottled water, cereal, coffee and other items;
• A greater selection of easy and affordable family meals, and a wider variety of grab-and-go items and pre-sliced deli meats and cheeses;
• A more efficient checkout process;
• New signage and groupings of similar products, to make it easier to find items faster; and
• More safety equipment and protocols.

About 40% of the remodeled stores now offer Food Lion To Go, the banner’s grocery pickup service. Additionally, many of the stores also provide home delivery in as little time as an hour.

Food Lion’s hunger relief donations in the Mid-Atlantic region include $75,000 to the Food Bank of Delaware to buy a refrigerated truck and food for mobile market distributions, and $60,000 to the Capital Area Food Bank to purchase food for mobile market distributions. Further, the grocer’s Food Lion Feeds organization is donating $1,000 to every feeding agency that picks up food rescue product from each of the 112 remodeled stores, for an additional $112,000 in donations. These donations are in addition to the continuing support these local organizations have received from Food Lion Feeds through other product, monetary, equipment and volunteer contributions.

Food Lion has now remodeled more than 90% of its current store network.

Salisbury, North Carolina-based Food Lion has more than 1,000 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states and employs more than 68,000 associates. Its parent company, Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of Zaandam, Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize operating more than 2,000 stores across 23 states, is No. 11 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.