A ribbon cutting was held for the Grand Opening of the Food Lion grocery store in Pelzer Wednesday morning.
Store associates, managers and top company officials attended along with Pelzer Town Council members Mike Matthews and Eddie Waits.
Store Manager Mike Strange said “I am excited to be reopening and take care of our customers in Pelzer and the surrounding communities and get back in our store.”
Strange said the store employs 85 people and they were able to close one store and reopen as Food Lion in about 10 days.
Strange is a native of Pelzer and a veteran of the grocery industry with more than 30 years of experience.
The store offers local residents a wide range of products, from “grab-and-go” meals to Food Lion’s Nature’s Promise branded line of wholesome and organic products – all at Food Lion’s well-known low prices. Additionally, the store will offer several locally sourced items, such as fresh produce from W.P. Rawl Farms and more.
Food Lion Ribbon Cutting
Associate Morgan Carlee (l) and Assistant Store Manager Michelle Vaugh (r) held the ribbon as Customer Service Representative Ann Haynes cut the ribbon to officially open the new Food Lion store Wednesday morning in Pelzer as store manager Mike Strange (r) watches.
Ninety-nine of the first 100 customers received a $10 gift card and one lucky shopper received a $250 gift card.
Now with more stores in more neighborhoods including Pelzer, Moonville and Hwy. 81 in the Hopewell/Piercetown community, Food Lion is easy to shop and easy to get in and out of quickly. In addition to a longstanding heritage of low prices, Food Lion also makes shopping easy and affordable for customers through its MVP loyalty program, its award-winning Shop & Earn personalized monthly rewards program and with weekly promotions, hot sales and everyday low prices. Food Lion also has a convenient mobile app that provides easy access to digital coupons, mobile shopping lists and much more.
Earlier this week, Food Lion provided gifts to local firefighters, teachers and YMCA staff. Additionally, the company donated $1,500 to Springfield Miracle Hill Rescue Mission, an agency of Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina. Miracle Hill will receive food from the new store on a regular basis through Food Lion Feeds, the company’s industry-leading food rescue program. Since 2014, Food Lion has donated approximately 750 million meals to local hunger organizations.
Food Lion announced plans to expand its store network with the purchase 62 BI-LO/Harveys Supermarket stores from Southeastern Grocers in June 2020.
In November, Food Lion announced that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission had granted early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act of 1976 which satisfies one of the conditions of closing the transaction of the purchase of 630 stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The acquisition deepened Food Lion’s ability to serve more customers with fresh and affordable products.
At the time, Food Lion President Meg Ham. “Nourishing our neighbors with fresh, quality products at affordable prices is core to everything we do. We look forward to opening these stores early next year and welcoming our neighbors in these towns and cities into their new Food Lion.”
Food Lion expects to hire more than 4,650 associates to serve customers at the 62 new stores.
The change over from BI-LO and Harveys Supermarkets to Food Lion is expected to take place over a staggered period from January to April, 2021. Food Lion plans to operate all of the stores under the Food Lion banner.
Food Lion also has a long history of caring for its neighbors in need. As the first grocery retailer in the country to establish a partnership with Feeding America to develop a retail food rescue program more than 20 years ago, all stores in the Food Lion network are paired with a local feeding agency to receive donations through Food Lion’s retail food rescue program and support through its hunger-relief platform, Food Lion Feeds. Through its network of 30 food bank partners across its 10-state footprint, Food Lion ensures food that is unable to be sold in its stores but is perfectly safe to eat is donated to serve those in need.
In 2020, based on unprecedented need caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Food Lion made its largest one-time hunger relief gift in the company’s history, donating more than $3.1 million to support its food bank partners and medical research. The company also made additional gifts this year for hunger relief, including donating more than 123 million meals through efforts including volunteerism, funding to support food bank transportation capacity, and funding to support new school distribution models to address child hunger.
Food Lion will be served by ADUSA Distribution, LLC, through the acquisition of the Mauldin, S.C., distribution center. ADUSA Distribution expects to hire more than 800 associates to support Food Lion’s network of stores. The transaction is anticipated to be complete in the first half of 2021.
About Food Lion
Food Lion, based in Salisbury, N.C., since 1957, has more than 1,000 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states and employs more than 77,000 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 donated more than 500 million meals to individuals and families since 2014, and has committed to donate 1 billion more meals by 2025. Food Lion is a company of Ahold Delhaize USA, the U.S. division of Zaandam-based Ahold Delhaize. For more information, visit www.foodlion.com or job applicants may visit www.foodlion.com/careers.
