Food Lion to purchase 62 Bi-Lo, Harveys stores

Salisbury, N.C.-based Food Lion, which is owned by Ahold Delhaize, has agreed to purchase 62 Bi-Lo and Harveys Supermarket locations from Jacksonville, Fla.-based Southeastern Grocers.

The stores Food Lion plans to buy are in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, and once the transaction is complete, those locations will be operated under the Food Lion banner, according to a news release. The transaction is expected to be completed in phases, starting in January.

“We are so excited to add these new locations to our more than 630 stores across Georgia and the Carolinas,” Food Lion president Meg Ham said in the release. “We’ve been serving customers in these larger regions for almost 60 years. We’re thrilled to add these locations and serve even more towns and cities across these three states with fresh, quality products at affordable prices every day with the caring, friendly service customers expect from their local Food Lion.”

The transaction includes 46 Bi-Lo stores and 16 Harveys Supermarket locations, according to a second news release.

The newly converted Food Lion stores will be supplied by a distribution center in Mauldin, S.C., that was previously used by Southeastern Grocers, according to the release.

The sale of the stores by Southeastern Grocers is one of several moves the company announced June 3, including dropping the Bi-Lo banner altogether “to allow for greater investment in growing the Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie banners,” per the release.