Food Lion Closing 25 Tennessee Stores, Smithville Store to Remain Open

Food Lion is closing twenty five “underperforming” stores in Tennessee, but the Smithville store will remain open.
According to a news release, underperforming Food Lion stores will be shut down in a total of nine states including Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia, “primarily in markets in which the company has the least store density”.
Food Lion stores in Tennessee which will be closing are located in Athens, six stores in Chattanooga, Cleveland, Hixson, Clinton, Crossville, Knoxville, Maryville, Morristown, Sevierville, Clarksville, Hendersonville, Lewisburg, two stores in Murfreesboro, Old Hickory, Smyrna, Sparta, Greeneville, and Johnson City.
All affected stores will close within 30 days.
“Food Lion is focused on repositioning our business for future growth,” said Cathy Green Burns, president of Food Lion. “By closing underperforming stores, we will continue to position Food Lion for success, especially in light of our brand strategy results. We are very pleased with the reaction from our customers on the implementation of our new brand strategy work, which includes being recognized as a price leader, making our stores easier to shop, offering the greatest value in private brands and providing fresh produce. However, we also determined the most successful markets for these investments are areas where we have strong store density or high market share. As we move forward with implementing our strategy this year, Food Lion will launch its next market this quarter and expects to be substantially complete by year-end. We look forward to accelerating the Food Lion strategy and bringing the strategy to life in an additional 600 to 700 stores.”
Food Lion’s parent company is Delhaize America.
Delhaize America is a leading supermarket operator with more than 1,600 stores in 16 states in the eastern United States. Delhaize America operates under the banners Bottom Dollar Food, Food Lion, Harveys, Hannaford Supermarkets, Reid’s and Sweetbay, each of which has a distinct strategy and a well-established brand image. Through its multiple banners, Delhaize America is able to target the needs and requirements of specific markets, customize its product and service offerings and maintain strong brand recognition with its local customers. Delhaize America employs approximately 107,000 full-time and part-time associates.