Food Lion Unveils New Easy, Fresh and Affordable Shopping Experience for Customers in 31 Greater Wilmington, N.C., Stores

SALISBURY, N.C., Aug. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Food Lion has unveiled a new, easier shopping experience for customers in 31 stores in the greater Wilmington, N.C., market. The stores are the first in the Food Lion chain to receive remodels as part of the grocer's new "Easy, Fresh and Affordable…You Can Count on Food Lion Every Day" strategy, which was announced earlier this year.

"Since announcing our new strategy, we've been doing a lot across the Food Lion chain to create positive change. We're proud to continue that momentum by launching the first market of enhanced stores that bring all the elements of our new strategy to life to make shopping easier for customers," said Beth Newlands Campbell, president of Food Lion. "Our customers told us that they want a grocery experience where it's easy to shop, easy to save and easy to figure out what is for dinner tonight. In these enhanced stores, we've worked to deliver just that. We invite our customers and the Wilmington community to come out and experience grocery shopping reimagined at Food Lion and let us know what you think about our new stores." 

In celebration of the launch of the newest format stores, Food Lion is giving away $10 gift cards to the first 50 customers at each of the 31 locations every day from Wednesday, Aug. 20, through Saturday, Aug. 23.

Consistent with its focus on eliminating hunger in its local communities, Food Lion Feeds has also donated 150,000 meals, or $31,000, to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast North Carolina and 27 local feeding agencies in the Wilmington, N.C., region to mark the launch of the 31 stores. The donation is part of the grocer's commitment to provide 500 million meals to individuals and families in need by the end of 2020.

"Despite offering low prices and great opportunities to save in our stores every day, we know that there are still many people in our local communities struggling with hunger. We want our customers and communities to know they can count on Food Lion to be their partner in eliminating the choices families are forced to make when they're hungry, like choosing between dinner and rent or gasoline and buying groceries," added Newlands Campbell.

New Store Features

The remodeled stores debut new features that make shopping – and saving – easier for customers. Food Lion expanded its selection in stores by adding thousands of new items so customers can get everything they need in one trip. The new assortment of products includes a dedicated Gluten Free section and a wide selection of quality fresh meat and produce that carry a Double-Your-Money-Back guarantee.

New Food Lion Beef is now available in stores. The new sealed fresh packaging keeps the USDA Choice Beef fresh longer and is easy to open, leak-proof and freezer-ready. New Food Lion Beef also provides a more abundant selection available to customers in stores. The product contains no additives or preservatives.

Food Lion also made great deals easier to find throughout the store with new yellow signage and Three Easy Ways to Save: MVP On Sale, Extended Savings and Great Value Every Day. On Sale items are the great savings and promotions that Food Lion is known for, including deals from the weekly flyer. Extended Savings are prices reduced for longer on items throughout the store – up to 13 weeks. Great Value Every Day indicates incredibly low prices always available on Food Lion private brand items and in-season produce.

For busy families on the go, Food Lion has also added Daily Dinner Deals, hot meals for families of four for around $10, offered from 4 to 7 p.m., as well as all-day daily meal deals, in the deli department. The grocer now has a wider variety of grab-and-go items and pre-sliced deli meats and cheeses, which are sliced fresh daily, but available for customers to pick up without waiting in line.

Knowing that customers want to get in and out of the store quickly, Food Lion made checkout faster with improved technology, larger display screens so customers can see items and prices as they're scanned and additional associates available to bag groceries for customers. Unpacking is even easier at home with new blue bags, in addition to the traditional white bags, which help customers easily identify cold and frozen items.  

Food Lion will continue to roll out storewide enhancements in markets over time. The company plans to launch an additional 45 remodeled stores in the greater Greenville, N.C., market in November.

Chain-wide Changes

The launch of a new weekly flyer, available at www.foodlion.com/weeklyspecials, continues Food Lion's chain-wide improvements to support its "Easy, Fresh and Affordable…You Can Count on Food Lion Every Day" strategy.

The new weekly flyer makes saving easier for customers with an easy-to-navigate layout and easy-to-spot low prices. An MVP Savings Center section on the back page also helps customers save more in store by combining weekly specials with coupons from the in-store kiosks.

All stores are also receiving expanded assortments based on customer feedback and consumer research and include wider varieties of the items customers request most, such as k-cup coffees and Greek yogurt multipacks.

Also, all 63,000 of Food Lion's associates have completed new customer centric training to provide great experiences for customers in stores every day.

"For our customers to trust us, they need to be able to go into any Food Lion store and have a consistently great experience," added Newlands Campbell.  "This is why our efforts to improve customer service and ensure our products are always fresh are so important."

Food Lion, which serves more than 9 million customers each week at more than 1,100 locations in 10 states, was founded as Food Town in 1957 and still calls Salisbury, N.C., its hometown.

A complete list of the remodeled stores, as well as other information, is available at www.foodlion.com/newsroom.

About Food Lion
Food Lion, based in Salisbury, N.C., since 1957, has more than 1,100 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states and employs more than 63,000 associates. By leveraging its longstanding heritage of low prices and convenient locations, Food Lion is working to own the easiest full shop grocery experience in the Southeast, anchored by a strong commitment to affordability, freshness and the communities it serves. Through Food Lion Feeds, the company has committed to provide 500 million meals to individuals and families in need by the end of 2020. Food Lion is a company of Delhaize America, the U.S. division of Brussels-based Delhaize Group (NYSE: DEG).  For more information, visit www.foodlion.com. 

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SOURCE Food Lion