SALISBURY, N.C., Aug. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — With a $365 million capital investment, Food Lion has enhanced the customer shopping experience with remodeled stores in the greater Raleigh-Durham, NC, area and Mecklenburg County, VA. On Aug. 21, Food Lion will hold ribbon-cutting events at 167 stores in the omnichannel retailer’s greater Raleigh-Durham market, which is among the fastest growing areas nationwide. In addition to providing an easier and affordable shopping experience, Food Lion supports the towns and cities it serves by collaborating with local organizations to address food insecurity and nourish neighbors and their families experiencing hunger.
The investment includes an extensive product assortment with a specific focus on a variety of affordable and easy meal solutions that are ready-to-eat, ready-to-cook or ready-to-heat. In addition, stores will feature fresh & simple™ branded meals. Inspired by customer and associate feedback, nearly all stores are introducing self-checkout lanes for an enhanced and efficient shopping experience, allowing customers to choose between traditional cashier-assisted checkout or self-checkout options. Additionally, Food Lion continues to invest in training and developing associates to provide the best customer experience. While renovating and refreshing its look, the modernized stores reflect Food Lion’s continued commitment to the towns and cities it serves, providing an easy, fresh and affordable shopping experience.
“For nearly 50 years, Food Lion has been committed to caring for our neighbors in the Raleigh-Durham area,” said Meg Ham, President, Food Lion. “We take pride in serving generations of families and are thrilled to extend that warm welcome to existing and new families in their remodeled Food Lion store. Enhancements were made with our customers in mind. They’ll discover a refreshed look and feel, and more convenient grab-and-go items that make life easier. Our customers can continue to count on Food Lion to help nourish their families as we provide an easy, fresh and affordable omnichannel shopping experience.”
On Aug. 21, the newly remodeled stores will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 7:45 a.m. Afterward, the first 100 customers in line will receive giveaways and a gift card with a chance to win a grand prize of $1,000 in Food Lion gift cards. Learn more about store hours of operation, specific services each store offers and the weekly ad flyer.
Remodeled stores include new features for easy, fresh and affordable shopping
Store upgrades include an extensive product assortment, including fresh produce, quality meats and many other products to meet individual and family needs with a specific focus on simple meal solutions and time-saving options. Customers also have a large selection of organic, gluten-free and plant-based items to choose from including Nature’s Promise, Food Lion’s affordable brand of wholesome and organic products made with no artificial flavors, preservatives or synthetic colors.
Through its Local Goodness program, Food Lion stores offer a wide variety of regional items sourced from local growers or manufacturers, serving customers in a more meaningful way with products that are the heart and soul of the community. The enhanced locally grown assortment includes 25-30 seasonal produce items such as squash, cucumbers, greens, berries and melons. Through the end of summer, customers can find items such as bulk pickling cucumbers, green peanuts and a variety of tomatoes. For the fall, the stores will offer muscadine grapes and an assorted variety of seasonal apples. A list of additional North Carolina-based suppliers that may be featured in the store can be found online.
Food Lion’s enhancements also include offering convenience for shoppers by featuring an eCommerce solution in all stores, including Food Lion To Go Pickup and/or Home Delivery options. Online orders may be placed on the Food Lion To Go website or through the app. The convenient service allows customers to place an order with the click of a button while experiencing the same low prices and fresh food items they receive in the store.
Demonstrating care for its neighbors and communities with a commitment to sustainability, Food Lion’s enhanced stores feature energy-efficient LED lighting and refrigerated cases with doors to help reduce its environmental footprint. The modern solutions impart ambiance, enhance fresh product assortment and decrease energy consumption, helping support Food Lion’s sustainability commitments while reducing costs. Based on its longtime sustainability measures, Food Lion is the only company in the country to receive the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy for 23 consecutive years.
Food Lion Feeds supports partner food banks to increase access to nutritious food
Working in partnership to help address food insecurity, Food Lion has contributed $50,000 through its hunger-relief platform, Food Lion Feeds, to benefit Inter-Faith Food Shuttle in Raleigh, NC. The investment funds the nonprofit’s culinary apprenticeship program. Designed to break the cycle of poverty, students gain hands-on culinary training and paid work experience to prepare for careers in the food service industry.
“Our Culinary Apprenticeship Program tackles the root causes of hunger by addressing unemployment, meeting industry demand, and empowering underserved communities. By equipping individuals with culinary skills, we foster economic growth and strengthen food security,” said L. Ron Pringle, President and Chief Executive Officer, Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. “We are proud to provide participants with state-of-the-art classroom space, made possible by the unwavering support of Food Lion Feeds, a longtime partner committed to our mission.”
Food Lion Feeds also helps to address critical needs by working with the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. The hunger-relief platform is providing $200,000 toward purchasing a refrigerated tractor-trailer to help support their pop-up markets across the Triangle area, increasing access to nutritious food and enabling them to respond to the rising demand for families experiencing hunger. The refrigerated truck holds an average of 40,000 pounds of food and will allow the food bank to distribute approximately 700,000 pounds of food throughout the Raleigh area annually.
Additionally, each Food Lion store regularly donates unsaleable edible food that might otherwise go to waste to local feeding agencies to support their clients’ nutritional needs. More than 20 years ago, Food Lion was the first grocery retailer in the country to establish a food rescue program with Feeding America®, the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization. In 2023, Food Lion stores in the Raleigh-Durham area donated more than 8 million pounds through food rescue to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina in Raleigh, NC, Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast North Carolina in Fayetteville, NC, and Feed More in Richmond, VA.
Beginning Aug. 27, Food Lion associates will lead a volunteer tour throughout the greater Raleigh-Durham area. Food Lion Feeds will donate more than 3,900 pounds of food to local pantries and associates will stock the shelves. Additionally, Food Lion Feeds will provide $5,000 in Food Lion gift cards. The following community feeding partners will benefit from this effort:
| Community Feeding Partner | Location | Volunteer Tour Date |
| Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina Pop-up Market at St. Augustine University | Raleigh, NC | Aug. 27 |
| Christians United Outreach Center of Lee County, NC | Sanford, NC | Sept. 5 |
| Community of Hope Ministries | Garner, NC | Sept. 5 |
| Union Mission Food Pantry Ministry | Roanoke Rapids, NC | Sept. 5 |
| Tri-Area Ministry Food Pantry | Wake Forest, NC | Sept. 11 |
| North Carolina Central University | Durham, NC | Sept. 12 |
| Concerned Citizens of Tillery* | Tillery, NC | Sept. 12 |
| Shaw University | Raleigh, NC | Sept. 13 |
| Beauty Spot Missionary Baptist Church Outreach Ministry* | Fayetteville, NC | Sept. 13 |
In addition to the volunteer tour, associates volunteer at hunger relief events year-round to support community feeding partners in their mission to nourish neighbors and increase access to nutritious food. Through Food Lion Feeds, the omnichannel retailer has donated more than 1.2 billion meals to individuals and families since 2014 and has committed to donating 1.5 billion meals by 2025. For more information on Food Lion Feeds’ commitment to fighting hunger, visit foodlion.com/feeds.
*This volunteer effort is part of Food Lion Feeds’ annual event, The Great Pantry Makeover, where Food Lion associates remodel and stock the shelves of food pantries across its 10-state operating area to provide sustainable and impactful solutions. More than 30 organizations will benefit from this effort that takes place every September to align with Hunger Action Month, a time when Food Lion Feeds deepens its extensive relationship with Feeding America®.
About Food Lion
Food Lion is an omnichannel grocery retailer committed to nourishing its neighbors. More than 82,000 associates across 1,100+ stores deliver an easy, fresh and affordable shopping experience throughout 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. With a focus on hunger relief, Food Lion is a pioneer in food rescue. In 2014, Food Lion Feeds was created and has since donated more than 1.2 billion meals to those who are food insecure. The retailer has committed to donate 1.5 billion meals by 2025. Founded and based in Salisbury, N.C., since 1957, Food Lion is a company of Ahold Delhaize USA, the U.S. division of Zaandam-based Ahold Delhaize. For more information, visit foodlion.com.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ead4e4a3-8752-4b81-8e39-be10576c5467