Food Lion Scales Back Bloom Expansion

JON SPRINGER

SALISBURY, N.C. — Four stores under development in the Raleigh, N.C., market will open under the Food Lion brand and not its more stylish sister banner Bloom, according to Food Lion here.

“At this time, we are focusing our efforts on the Bloom banner in its existing markets to further increase our density. As a result, we will not expand the Bloom banner into the Raleigh market at this time,” Christy Phillips-Brown, a spokeswoman for Food Lion here, told SN. “Food Lion has a strong market presence in the Raleigh area and we are confident that our Food Lion banner will meet the needs of our customers in this market.”

Bloom’s expansion to the Raleigh market — where the four developing stores are scheduled to open over the next two years — was in the works for more than a year. However, Phillips-Brown said Bloom “remains strongly interested in expanding into the Raleigh market and will evaluate new market opportunities in the future.”

Bloom has opened two new stores this year in the Charlotte, N.C., and Washington, D.C., markets, and will evaluate new locations in existing markets this year, Phillips-Brown said.

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