Food Lion to close two area stores within a month
Food Lion will close a store in Roanoke and Fairlawn within a month.
Below is the story. Why do you think these stores were underperforming? Where do you prefer to do your grocery shopping, and why?
From staff and wire reports
Food Lion stores in Roanoke and Fairlawn will close as part of a move by the grocer’s parent company to shutter underperforming locations.
The stores at 4350 Franklin Road S.W. in Roanoke, near the new Kohl’s, and at 7327 Peppers Ferry Road in Fairlawn will close within the next 30 days, according to Delhaize, the Belgian supermarket chain that operates the Food Lion brand.
Delhaize said it is closing 113 Food Lion locations, seven Bloom stores and six Bottom Dollar Food stores. A distribution center in Tennessee also will close.
The company also will convert 64 Bloom and Bottom Dollar Food stores in Virginia Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia to Food Lion locations.
Delhaize said the closures will cut almost 5,000 jobs in the Unites States.
January 12, 2012 - 5:42 PM
This has nothing to do with the Food Lions closing, though I am not surprised.
What is happening at the Towers Awful Arthurs, I noticed today it has a new name.
I never liked it anyway! I would like to see a Whole Foods store. They are expanding in VA & NC. Better & Healthier choices.
Food Lion is the Kmart of supermarkets. A shame. And Unites States?
Well, as I mentioned initially, the Fairlawn store was in rough shape. No deli/bakery, which they closed off years ago. It was fairly small, and a bit dingy looking because it hadn’t been remodeled. Price-wise, they were the most expensive in Fairlawn, often by a substantial margin. We didn’t shop there often because of the prices, and their small selection. We do probably 60% of our grocery shopping at Kroger, 30% at Walmart, and the other 10% got split between Food Lion, local stores, and other places.
Our main driver in choosing where to shop is their selection…because we have to eat very specific foods to avoid allergens. Kroger and the local shops seem to have the best variety of specialty foods, so they get the lion’s share of our grocery money. We get stuff at Walmart that we know is cheaper there than the competition. With Food Lion, they just really didn’t stock what we bought, so we would only go there in a pinch if Walmart looked busy and we didn’t feel like going further to Kroger.
And, unfortunately, we used to be big-time Food Lion shoppers because my wife worked for them for many, many years, including the location slated to close. But as time went on, they really moved to obsolescence in the grocery market in Fairlawn, and it began when Walmart built adjacent to their site. They’ve just been on a downward spiral ever since. Walmart had been renovated, Kroger had some upgrades…Food Lion closed off a chunk of the store and never did much, kind of like my beef with Kmart.
But, the Food Lion stores that have been renovated recently, they’re a much nicer experience. Though, they’re still overpriced.
Kroger due is wear we shop due to convience. Gas purchasing is also a factor as we buy that a Kroger also. We have a brand new Food Lion in Daleville but store is small and out of the way. I have shopped at the Kroger since it was built. Hate to see any of the Food Lion’s close and from the article they are not moving and of the employeee’s to other stores although knowing the local DM I would say it would be on a need basis.
What are Bloom and Bottom Dollar and where are they located?
We shop at the closest grocery store. Used to be a Kroger but now is a Food Lion. Took a little while to get used to the change but the Food Lion is fine for us. Certainly the Kroger store is much larger and has a bigger selection but we are satisfied with Food Lion. If they were equal distance I’m not sure which one we would shop at. Probably Kroger for the fuel points and gas pumps.
Forgot to mention. We buy our beef from local farmers so the meat selection is not a concern.
@colleen: Check out this post from food write Lindsey Nair. It explains the change.
@David: I’ve never been in a Bloom or Bottom Dollar, so I can only tell you what I’ve read on the web. Anyone else who has shopped at either store care to weigh in?
Aren’t the Bloom stores, upscale versions of Food Lion? I never heard of Bottom Dollar, but it sounds like downscale versions.
I do my shopping at Kroger or Fresh Market. I’ve just never been impressed with Food Lion.
I have been to a Bloom in Williamsburg, like Debbie said just a upscale version of FL but they do have items FL does not carry. Went in just to buy some milk since it was across from our hotel. Wasn’t impressed at all. Martin’s in Williamsburg was nicer, cleaner and prices were much better.
Sorry to see the Fairlawn store close but it’s not surprising. To whoever commented re: the Daleville store, I’ve been to both several times, and it’s no comparison. Despite its location, the Daleville store is really awesome — if I lived there, I would frequent it. Brand new & in sparkling condition. In contrast, the Fairlawn store was outdated and run-down, in a shopping center that’s in desperate need of upgrades.
I frequented the 220 store and the employees there were outstanding compared to other Food Lion’s. I hated to see one of the employees (Amanda) recently leave as she was the kindest person you could meet. She worked at many of the stores in the area and I never witnessed her mistreating her customers as some of the cashiers do. It is a shame the rest of the employees could not be as nice.
The store is in a great upscale area so maybe something better will come-Whole Foods!!!We have enough Foodlion/Krogers!!
I am totally bummed that the 220 store will be closing. I live in Boones Mill, and it was the perfect place to stop on my way home from Roanoke. I am surprised that they are closing that one, especially since they just did all that remodeling on it.
I also just heard that the Fairlawn Kroger, just down Rt 11 from the soon-to-be-closing Food Lion is scheduled for a remodel this year, and will have a fuel center built in the parking lot. If that is in fact true, then yippee! But I cannot find substantiation of that on the web anywhere…so who knows. I do hope it’s true though, we shop at that store more than any other, and it could use a refresh. And I’d love to have a fuel center somewhere other than Blacksburg or Christiansburg.
The Fairlawn Food Lion is a fine grocery store for the customer base it served. The people of the immediate area like its smallness and safe parking lot. Not everyone is a college student or only wants to purchase prepared junk food for groceries or desires to shop in the maddness of a oversize super store for food and diapers and bedspreads at the same time. There is a group out there that isn’t looking to be entertained by razzle dazzle when they shop and they are willing to pay the extra cost not to be mixed up in the super store shopping and the pushing and banging of carts and a 3 mile hike in and out to shop for the essentials to just make a good old fahion homemade meal. Under preforming is not the real image of this community fixture.
Fairlawn USA will be missed.
A. Beasley, now you can stop at WalMart and save a ton of money, have a great variety to choose from, plus buy from an American owned company.
Since it wasn’t provided in the thread, here is the complete list of closings by Food Lion’s parent company. Before that, a sidebar. I would find it interesting to have a brief history of the Food Lion evolution and Delhaize acquisition to have been included in the story. I think we all grew up knowing about Food Lion, they even sponsor ACC sports telecasts. A background on the business, and the fact they are owned by an international conglomerate, would have been interesting.
Anyway, for those outside of Roanoke county who click on roanoke.com, here is a list of all the Delhaize closings.
http://d1pmybhtyfsbgv.cloudfront.net/Assets/Docs/corporate/Delhaize_America_Store_Closings.v-2-1-2950-0.pdf
It already looks like the FL in Fairlawn is closed. Every time I’ve been by there in the evenings, the lights are off and parking lot in front of the store empty. Maybe they have reduced their hours, but I’ve been by there around 6-7 in the evening and it’s already been closed.
I am not surprised that Food Lion is closing down some stores. I do not think it is just Kroger’s dominance in the area. The few Food Lions I have been in the area, seemed run-down or did not have a “happy atmosphere” that attracts shoppers. Plus they did not double coupons in this area and I believe that has *some* affect.
I have been in a Bloom in Northern VA, and was unimpressive to me. Giant seems to be king up there as Kroger is here.
I would love to see more competition in this area for supermarkets, one that may support doubling coupons, friendly atmosphere. Safeway or Giant are the only one I can see that already has VA stores and may want to make a push into this market. I don’t see Whole Foods wanting to open a store that far down 220. But somewhere off 419, or Valley View would (to me) be the best location.
Just my few cents, and I have no financial or other connection to any of these mention stores other than trying to get the best deals when shopping.
@abdnva… I’m not sure a blog post requires a complete background on the company, and the fact that they are now owned by Delhaize was mentioned, as well as the fact that Delhaize was a multinational. I would check out the Food Lion Wikipedia article for details on the history and acquisition. That’s why the internet is all interconnected… so each site doesn’t have to encapsulate all known information about a particular subject.
However, I recall when it was Food Town, and thought it was really weird when they changed the name to Food Lion. I mean, what the heck does a lion have to do with food anyway? The Wikipedia article clears it up nicely.
Spiny, I didn’t want the complete history, but merely a review of the Delhaize purchase would have been nice, along with a summary of the number of locations currently open, etc. I didn’t need an in depth analysis. I did think, though that your suggestion that I Wiki my desired info ignored the old customer service adage of ‘value added means customer retention’. When I have to seek out info on my own from sources other than roanoke.com, I begin to wonder the value of roanoke.com, but I was too polite to say that originally.
@adbnva: Thanks for your feedback. I’ll keep it mind for next time.