Food Lion scales back growth of Bloom banner

Salisbury, N.C. Food Lion said Thursday that four stores under development in the Raleigh, N.C., market will open under the Food Lion brand and not its more stylish and up-market banner Bloom, according to a report by Supermarket News.

“At this time, we are focusing our efforts on the Bloom banner in its existing markets to further increase our density,” said Christy Phillips-Brown, spokeswoman for Food Lion. “As a result, we will not expand the Bloom banner into the Raleigh market at this time. Food Lion has a strong market presence in the Raleigh area and we are confident that our Food Lion banner will meet the needs of our customers in this market.”

Bloom’s expansion to the Raleigh market -- where the four developing stores are scheduled to open over the next two years -- was in the works for more than a year. However, Phillips-Brown told Supermarket News that the grocer “remains strongly interested in expanding into the Raleigh market and will evaluate new market opportunities in the future.”

Bloom has opened two new stores this year in the Charlotte, N.C., and Washington, D.C., markets, and will evaluate new locations in existing markets this year, Phillips-Brown said.