Food Lion to buy 62 Bi-Lo, Harveys Supermarkets stores
Food Lion is expanding its Southeast store footprint.
The company, a division of Ahold Delhaize USA, has entered into an agreement to purchase 46 Bi-Lo and 16 Harveys Supermarkets locations in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia from Southeastern Grocers, which announced plans to divest itself of the Bi-Lo banner. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.
“The company has made the strategic decision to no longer operate stores under the BI-LO banner to allow for greater investment in growing the Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie banners,” stated Southeastern, which also said it exploring strategic options for the remaining Bi-Lo stores, including other potential transactions
The acquired 62 stores will remain open as Bi-Lo and Harveys Supermarket until the transaction is complete, which is expected to take place over a staggered period from January to April 2021. Food Lion plans to operate all the stores under the Food Lion banner.
“We are so excited to add these new locations to our more than 630 stores across Georgia and the Carolinas,” said Meg Ham, president, Food Lion. “We’ve been serving customers in these larger regions for almost 60 years.”
Southeaster said that its distribution center in Mauldin, S.C., would be transferred to Ahold Delhaize’s ADUSA Distribution, and that it would transfer in-store pharmacy businesses at 57 locations under the Bi-Lo and Harveys Supermarket banners to CVS and Walgreens.
“The successful execution of our long-term transformation strategy may at times require difficult decisions," said Anthony Hucker, CEO, Southeastern, which operates 550 supermarkets, liquor stores and in-store pharmacies throughout the seven southeastern states. “Today’s transactions are a critical strategic move and an important next step for our continued growth and broader evolution as a business. These actions will facilitate greater investment in our remaining footprint so we can continue to provide an exceptional shopping experience our customers can always count on.”
The transactions build on previous announcements made by Southeastern — such as the opening of a new store earlier this year and the acquisition of eight new store locations from Lucky’s Market and Earth Fare — as part of its business transformation strategy to strengthen its overall performance in an increasingly competitive sector.