Food Lion closing 4 Bottom Dollar stores, renaming Bloom

The parent company of Food Lion supermarkets is closing four local Bottom Dollar Food stores and abandoning its upscale Bloom concept, the retailer announced.

Delhaize America Inc. plans to convert all seven local Bloom stores back to Food Lions. It also will put the Food Lion name back on the six remaining no-frills, low-price Bottom Dollar stores in Hampton Roads.

Those slated to close aren't making enough money, said Christy Phillips-Brown, a Food Lion spokeswoman. They are:

- 3935 Twin Pines Road in Portsmouth;

- 1505 Lynnhaven Pkwy. in Virginia Beach;

- 6 Elmhurst St. in Newport News;

- 10143 Jefferson Ave. in Newport News.

Those stores will begin discounting products on Wednesday and shut down within 30 days, Phillips-Brown said.

Bottom Dollar stores employ 30 to 35 workers on average, so about 130 will lose jobs locally. Those who are eligible will receive severance. They are encouraged to apply for any open Food Lion positions, Phillips-Brown said.

Delhaize America, based in Salisbury, N.C., announced Wednesday that it would close 113 Food Lion stores - none in Hampton Roads - and retire the Bloom brand, which launched in 2005 and came to local shoppers in 2007.

In markets like Hampton Roads, the retailer wants to simplify its operations, particularly where it has a high concentration of Food Lion stores, and focus on that brand's key advantages, particularly as a price leader, Phillips-Brown said.

For more than a decade, Food Lion has held the No. 1 market share in Hampton Roads in annual surveys by Food World, an industry publication. As of June, it had 84 stores in the region and $1 billion in annual sales, with 43 percent of the market, according to Food World.

Amid heavy competition in recent years, however, particularly from price-oriented retailers from Walmart to dollar stores, Food Lion has struggled to maintain its edge, said Jeff Metzger, Food World's publisher.

"You've got an incredibly crowded field," Metzger said. Food Lion's image today "is very vanilla. It's stale, in my opinion. I think they're aware that it needs a refreshing."

The conversions will turn Blooms in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Carrollton, Smithfield and Williamsburg back to the Food Lion name.

In April, Bloom officials visited the stores in Hampton Roads and deemed it one of the most successful areas for the brand, which boasted full-service bakeries and a larger selection of specialty goods. They announced store renovations with better signs and lighting, more pricing promotions, and additional organic and health-conscious products.

"We believe the current economic environment did impact the Bloom banner," said Phillips-Brown, adding that the change was as much about the retailer shifting attention to Food Lion as about Bloom's struggle to gain a foothold with customers. "People are looking for low prices."

Delhaize America introduced the Bottom Dollar concept in Hampton Roads at the same time as the Bloom stores. Bottom Dollar has four stores in Norfolk, one in Hampton and one in Newport News that will return to the Food Lion name. They are among the larger-size Bottom Dollar stores.

Delhaize America hasn't given up on Bottom Dollar, which offers fewer brands in each category, sells products off shipping pallets and warehouse-like shelves and requires customers to bag their own groceries. It is expanding the concept with smaller stores in markets where it sees the most potential for growth, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Youngstown, Ohio, according to a company statement.

Most of the Food Lion closings are in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Delhaize America is the U.S. subsidiary of Belgian retailer Delhaize Group, which bought the former Food Town Stores in 1974 and later changed that chain's name to Food Lion. It subsequently bought the Kash n' Karry, Hannaford Bros. and J.H. Harvey Co. chains up and down the East Coast.

Carolyn Shapiro, (757) 446-2270, carolyn.shapiro@pilotonline.com