Weis Markets in store conversions

Weiss Markets is expanding its store portfolio.



The retailer plans to convert 38 Food Lion supermarket locations to Weis Markets stores. Weiss Markets has completed the purchase of 38 Food Lion stores and plans to convert the locations to the Weiss banner by the end of October. The acquired stores are located in the states of Maryland, Virginia and Delaware.



"Once the conversions are completed over the next two months, we will have nearly doubled our Maryland store count and expanded into Virginia and Delaware," said Kurt Schertle, Weis Markets' COO.



Weis Markets is planning to hire more than 2,000 current Food Lion employees.



"We are reaching out to the Food Lion associates who work in these stores and look forward to hiring and ultimately welcoming them to our company," continued Schertle.



The newly converted stores will offer a variety of local products in addition to the more than 3,000 Weis brand products.



This is the company's second major acquisition in 2016. In August, it completed the conversion of five Mars Super Markets in Baltimore County, Maryland. Once the deals are complete, Weis Markets will have increased the number of its operating stores by more than 25% and will operate 204 stores in seven states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and West Virginia.



Weiss plans to close and reopen each Food Location quickly to ensure as little inconvenience to customers as possible. The process is expected to take less than a week for each store.