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BI-LO closing
By Paul Teague, News-Topic Local News EditorThe BI-LO grocery store in Lenoir will close its doors today and reopen next week as no-frills vendor Food$mart, according to a company statement. Store manager Randy Stewart confirmed the change Monday and said the new grocery will open Wednesday, May 7. He referred additional questions to BI-LO's corporate office in Mauldin, S.C. Located at 330 Blowing Rock Boulevard (U.S. 321), the store is part of several retail shopping options in a development that includes Belk Department Store. According to a statement released by the company Monday, the Lenoir BI-LO will be the first to convert to the new Food$mart format. Also, the hours of operation of the company will change to 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. on Sunday. Food$mart will continue to function as part of the overall BI-LO corporate framework, however, Joyce Smart - the company's communications director - said BI-LO discount cards no longer will be accepted. Smart added that there are no plans to downsize the 48-member workforce that has been working at the Lenoir BI-LO. The change to the grocery store's format comes approximately three weeks before the opening of the new Wal-Mart SuperCenter, also located off U.S. 321, and two months after another Wal-Mart SuperCenter began operations in Granite Falls. Wal-Mart SuperCenters feature grocery departments in direct competition with the major supermarket chains. Grocers such as BI-LO, Harris-Teeter and Food Lion also have been under pressure from discount wholesalers such as Wal-Mart's Sam's Club, BJ's Warehouse and Costco. “Grocery marketing is very competitive,” Smart said. BI-LO is a privately-held company that has 16,000 employees at 222 supermarkets in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. The Food$mart idea follows in the footsteps of Bottom Dollar, rival chain Food Lion's low-cost grocery, and German discount grocer Aldi. Bottom Dollar has a location in Hickory, while Aldi has a store in Lenoir and Hickory. The stores offer more limited selections, have customers pay for their bags and bag their own groceries. According to BI-LO, the Food$mart store will have free bags, along with assistance in bagging groceries. “Food$mart will have select regional and national brands, along with our Southern Home private label products,” BI-LO Director of New Business Development Rich Ramey said. “We will be able to take advantage of exceptional values from manufacturers for limited time or limited quantity offerings.” The company acknowledges that there may be fewer sizes of items available, while deli and bakery items will be on self-serve tables. “Our produce will still be triple-inspected, and we will have fresh cut meats,” Ramey said. “The difference between (BI-LO's produce) and what we will offer at Food$mart is that the sizes may not be as uniform in a bag of potatoes or apples, but the quality will still be excellent.” The grocery change comes three years after Winn-Dixie closed its Lenoir location on Morganton Boulevard. Local grocer Fairvalue took over the space earlier this year and closed its previous Lenoir location. BI-LO said it is looking for other stores to convert to the Food$mart concept.
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