NC-based Food Lion LLC growing in Md.

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Nov 17, 2004 by Kara Kridler

Sticking with its aggressive growth plan, North Carolina-based Food Lion LLC is opening four new stores in Maryland in span of roughly six months.

The low-cost supermarket chain will open its 75th store in the state tomorrow. The 40,000-square-foot Columbia store - Howard County's third - will be in the Oakland Mills Village Center. A store opened in Westminster last week at the Westminster Shopping Center. The 34,000-square-foot facility was Carroll County's third store.

Food Lion intends to open stores in the Woodbine section of Carroll County in early 2005 and in Lusby in Calvert County a few months later.

They are in real growth mode, not just in Maryland but in the whole mid-Atlantic region, said Maryland Retailers Association President Thomas S. Saquella. The chain has been in a very aggressive expansion phase for the past three or four years, he said.

The operator of about 1,200 stores in 11 states, Food Lion opened approximately 30 stores in 2004. While outlets stretch from Pennsylvania to Florida and as far west as Tennessee, the bulk of the stores are located in Virginia and North Carolina, with 481 and 321 stores, respectively.

From everything I can tell, the chain is doing very well, Saquella said. They don't carry as many products as other stores, but pricing for the most part is less than what you will find at a Giant [Food] or a Safeway.

Food Lion's main emphasis is on providing low prices in convenient locations, said Jeff Lowrance, a spokesman for the chain. We are constantly looking to fill in gaps in market areas and for good opportunities for growth, he said.

Food Lion has traditionally had less success in the Maryland area than in its other markets, said Terri Maloney, editor of Food World, a trade publication based in Columbia.

They have had a hard time finding locations here because chains such as Giant and Safeway dominate this market, she said. It is a little surprising that Food Lion decided to continue to open additional stores in Maryland now, she added.

Food Lion competes directly with low-cost chains including Weis Markets Inc., Mars Super Markets Inc. and even Wal-Mart Supercenter stores, which include a grocery store component, she said.

Food Lion announced the closing of 42 underperforming stores throughout the mid-Atlantic region in January 2003. The closings, which included two in Maryland, were billed as part of a restructuring plan. Three months later, Food Lion said it planned to open 45 new stores in the next year.

Food Lion, along with the supermarket industry, has had to take cost-saving measures during the past few years, Maloney said. Despite overall growth, they, too, have experienced periods of consolidation and downsizing due to the strains in the economy.