What is in this article?:
- Food Lion Pricing Bounces Bottom Dollar
- 'Big Move for Food Lion'
“I think the converted stores can be credible [as Food Lions] as long as they remarket the stores and develop a consumer communication plan.”
— Burt P. Flickinger III, managing director of Strategic Resource Group
SALISBURY, N.C. — Delhaize America last week welcomed the arrival of its newest Bottom Dollar Food store in Philadelphia while at the same time, the discount banner was vanishing from the South.
The changes speak to Delhaize’s new trust in a revamped Food Lion brand to appeal to bargain shoppers in existing markets, while the company courts such customers in new territories using the Bottom Dollar brand.
Late last month, six Bottom Dollar stores in the Hampton Roads section of Virginia reopened under the Food Lion banner. These stores, which originally were Food Lion outlets, were converted to Bottom Dollar as Delhaize developed its soft-discount concept over the last five years.
The conversions left 12 Bottom Dollar stores remaining in the Southern states — most around the Fredericksburg, Va., area. They are to be converted to Food Lions in the first quarter of 2013, Food Lion officials said.
More news: Bottom Dollar Expands in Pittsburgh
As reported previously in SN, Food Lion stores have been undergoing what Delhaize officials called a “new brand” initiative whereby stores are seeing investments in lower everyday prices along with an emphasis on service and freshness. The company said recently it was more than halfway complete with the effort, and had completed the rebranding at more than 260 stores in Virginia this spring.
The new brand has allowed Delhaize to retire the upscale-leaning Bloom brand — its stores have already either been closed or converted to Food Lion stores — and use Bottom Dollar exclusively as a growth vehicle in markets in which Delhaize does not operate other banners.
