Four months after Delhaize announced it was changing its N.C. and S.C. Blooms into Food Lions, the change is coming to Charlotte.
The Bloom on Park Road is reopening today, Wednesday, as a Food Lion. The other local Blooms will follow suit in the coming weeks. Grand openings and shopping sprees are planned (details to follow).
The Bloom label is still alive and well. Growing in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, Bloom is adding more options, such as a gluten-free center.
What's your opinion? If you loved Bloom, will you go back to Food Lion? What do you think of the company's strategy (and I promise after this, I'll try to stop making every post about a Delhaize company)?
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Park Road Bloom reopens as Food Lion
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49 comments:
Putting lipstick on a pig........
It's a shame that they are converting it to a Food Lion. Bloom projected a much better image. Now the store will be dirty and they'll stick that awful cigarette display in the middle of the cash registers. Harris Teeter on East probably couldn't be happier.
The awful cigarette/baby formula display is front and center - the first thing you see when you walk in. Bloom was a nice store and a viable option to Harris Teeter. Food Lion is a big step down so it's back to the Teeter. Nice job Delhaize.
They changed my Bloom in Harrisburg on Sunday and I hate it! There is a difference, the deli and bread sections are limited and the seafood department is awful. Lowes and Harris Teeter have a new customer in me!
I couldn't agree more! I left Harris Teeter to go to Bloom and now I'll be back at HT. Why couldn't Delhaize leave a good thing alone!
So sad to see Bloom go. I enjoyed the convenience of being able to buy specialty items, such as gluten free cereals and pizza. The manager said they would try to keep some products, but that didn't happen at my store.
Terrible decision. I went in to the one on WT Harris and they told me they no longer will do fresh seafood. WTH? I walked right out. Hello, Harris Teeter. Bloom projected a great image, Food Lion, not so much.
We had the top performing Bloom (off Sugar Creek and Harris) change this last week. It's a big step back and it burns me up that they kept the Bloom brand alive elsewhere. They were the last store that actually ground their own beef in-store. Now it's all done cheaply in a central location. In fact, that's what I think of when I go in Food Lion: "cheap". And not in a good way. I will shop there, but only about 10% as much as I used to.
I shopped Bloom and Harris-Teeter, about 50/50. Food Lion does not compare to HT like Bloom did. Sorry to see the competition to HT leave the area. Will pick up sale items at FL if I know about them, but I do not plan on any regular shopping there.
Thank God! No one wants another sorry Harris Teeter-type place that robs you at the register. We are sick and tired of having an elitist bunch of folks to deal with at our grocery stores. Soocer mom trash with a Ballantyne attitudes pushing carts around while their children run crazy like psychopaths throughout the aisles. Food Lion has great deals and they are a mammoth chain compared to these little Charlotte wanna-be's.
Anything but a Harris Teeter or Trader Joes. Charlotte is one lost little town.
Went to the old Bloom and "New" Food Lion in Fort Mil yesterday. Gone are the days of having two lanes open at the same time...6 checkout registers, but we can only afford to staff one! I won't be going back.
No one cares if you don't go back. Food Lion will do just fine. Keep your SUV and your whiney elitist children at home in Southpark so we don't have to put up with them.
Love it as it's empty now! Don't know how long it will last now that the fresh-from-college transplants won't step foot in it though.
Maybe when Congress bows to budget pressure and legalizes weed, FoodLion can add that to the entry display.
I know when I think good wholesome produce, it isn't tobacco as the first thing I want to see when I walk in the store.
Back to the cramped aislse of HT!!!
Bloom actually won me over after years of shopping at HT, but after already seeing what Food Lion has turned this place into, I will not be returning. They took away everything I liked about Bloom in the conversion. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Park Rd. location go the way of the former Bi Lo there...closed.
I had started shopping at the Bloom's on Park Rd. as an alternative to H/T. Liked the store and the deli and found prices lower than H/T.
Went back the other day after the change to Food Lion and doubt I will shop there anymore. The deli closed, store totall re-arranged to you couldn't find anything where you were accustomed to.
Looks like they stopped carrying the bread I like, etc., etc.
I think they made a mistake.
It looks like a country store in lizard lick now. What a horrible selection. The only thing good is the cigarette choices, if you smoke. SCrew you Food Lion you lost another customer. Back to East Blvd Harris Teeter.
As it has been said in the past, those who feel like they need to be 'pampered' when they go to shop for groceries, can stay over at the Harris Teeter. Let them charge you over $1-$2 more for almost everything they have. Walk around and talk on your cell phone while your kids annoy the life out of everyone, including the workers. Why should you care? Money and time is no option.
Food Lion and Wal-Mart have better prices on the exact same items and some of us don't go grocery shopping to 'make a trendy statement'.
No, screw the East Blvd. HT. I hate that place and the sorry manager there. Not far from becoming the nightmare that the Central Ave/Plaza Harris Teeter is now.
Sorry, Food Lion and Wal-mart DO NOT have the same selections as Harris Teeter (or Lowe's Food for that matter). I'm not part of the "elite crowd" or whatever you call it. I simply enjoy fresh and variety when it comes to shopping. Bloom had that. Food Lion (and Walmart) do not. Enjoy your endless display of cigarettes, crappy service and budweiser. I am, along with many others, headed back to HT.
Bloom as a brand cannot sustain, as that type of place just does not satisfy the majority of main stream grocery shoppers. Sorry, but neither does Harris Teeter. HT is Charlotte-fixed, and has its main base of customers from a local standpoint. Everyday people, you will find, consistantly shop for groceries at Super Wal-Mart and Food Lion as both are very large and can maintain a cheaper price on almost everything.
Having a store that caters to a very small demographic that wants things to look nice, and feel like a corner market, just does not satisfy the requirements for a successful grocery chain in metro areas.
Do you people not realize that Harris Teeter buys their products from the same vendors as Food Lion? They simply change the appearance or image and make you think you are getting a superior product...........you HT shoppers are a few sandwiches short of a picnic!
You certainly are an elitist if you complain about the way things are displayed in a store. Your Harris Teeter carries the exact same items, including that dreadful Budweiser you are so afraid of. Of course you are very intelligent, because you believe no one must actually purchase Budweiser beer. Good God, there really is no air that escapes from that bubble you have around you down in South Charlotte.
I go to a grocery store to puchase, oddly enough, groceries. I don't go for an "experience". Do they have what I want, at a reasonsble price.
I received my Bloom email this morning with all the specials...they are toying with my emotions. I HATE FOOD LION! FYI I am not an elitist, I don't shop with my kids...I just don't want get my juice in the same aisle as the diapers....
Food Lion most certainly does NOT have the same selection as Harris Teeter. My favorite coffee beans, the olive bar, the amount of FRESH seafood, the deli selection, international foods (and I'm not talking Mexican) and the list could go on.
I have shopped at Food Lion and Wal-Mart for the basics. But I can't find half of what's on my list there and end up going to Harris Teeter ALSO to pick up the rest. That is just annoying and I'd rather spend a few bucks more on my total grocery bill and not have to deal with the hassle.
8:56 - How can you say that an upscale grocery market cannot sustain? Maybe in some neighborhoods, but Dilworth isn't exactly a low income area, you know. Have you seen Whole Foods? Trader Joe's? EarthFare? Publix? Wegmans? Giant Eagle? The list of successful upscale stores with a great variety could go on, and that is what you will find in most major metros - not podunk grocery stores with little selection.
Yeah, Food Lion is not that spectacular when it comes to selection and quality. The bread choices at Food Lion are simply awful. I know that HT is more expensive, but I do shop around at TJ, Costco and Farmers's Market, etc. for better pricing. We are a vegetarian family, so HT (and Bloom) does cater to those of us who look for more options for vegetarian eaters. Plus, I do a fair bit of food preparation at home, and sometimes seek out some specialty items that one simply would not find at Food Lion. That said, if you are cooking latino foods, like tamales, Food Lion has a nice selection. Bloom was a much nicer shopping experience than any Food Lion I have been to, which sometimes can be a nice reprieve from the chaos of the day.
Surprised to see this news, after getting my email from BLOOM, announcing super double coupons on August 1... sorry they can't seem to include Charlotte in their future plans.
I enjoyed making an occasional special trip over there for some items that other stores don't carry -- but I have three Food Lion stores closer to where I live, plus my favorite HT a mile from home. No need to go back to Park Rd!
Anon 8:51 -- the Central Ave HT is getting ready for some major changes. I saw the drawings this morning and, once completed, it will be fantastic.
You can try and change the look of the HT on Central/Plaza all you want, but that won't help the sorry staff they have there, with their non-caring managers and hateful cop. You can't even get a sandwhich without inconveniencing someone. Thanks, but no thanks.
Funny to see the racists come out and slam any place that doesn't cater to 'Dilworth', like the uppity soccer mom said earlier. The person above said that those pampering grocery stores don't cater to MAINSTREAM everyday people, not snobs in Dilworth or Ballantyne who think they own the damn planet.
Anon 8:56 -- I don't understand what you mean when you say, "HT is Charlotte fixed."
The chain ranges from Delaware to Florida, and all states in between.
A major metropolitan area needs a variety of stores available, to serve the variety of people living here. Thank goodness we aren't limited to two small chain stores!
And thank goodness we have places which will carry regional brands as well as national ones -- did you know that Target doesn't have Duke's mayonnaise? I was shocked! :-)
Charlotte-fixed = Charlotte-based. GOT IT?! Harris Teeter is technically headquaretered in Matthews, and there are only 202 stores. Compare that to 1,167 stores that Food Lion currently operates and hopefully you will better understand.
PUBLIX! Please hurry; we have an emergency need in Charlotte for a quality grocer.
Oh yes, publix, and whoever else can offer me and my prestigious family a spa-like experience instead of actual grocery shopping. God help us all.
Anybody who really knows how to cook will avoid Food Lion and it's no fresh food policy. Yeech!
Fresh food policy? Again, you haven't read well. Larger chains go for better prices and that's what people want. If you want pampering and some Southpark fantasy, then good luck.
Nothing at all wrong with Food Lion. Just goes to show you just how full of themselves people in this town really are.
Anon 10:41 - Uppity soccer mom? Hah...I'm a single 31-year old male. I made that comment, though I don't know what was racist about it. I don't even live in Dilworth myself.
This Food Lion is in a high-income neighborhood where most residents will probably prefer to pay a few percent more for an upscale shopping experience with more selection. Bloom had that, Food Lion doesn't - so people will switch to HT.
In neighborhoods like Dilworth, Myers Park, SouthPark, Ballantyne, etc., upscale stores can be sustained because the "mainstream" in these neighborhood is people willing to spend more money for a better experience.
I'll take the Ingles and the farmer's market in West Jefferson or the TJ Maxx of groceries, Aldi's.
I was in there the other day and was horrified by the awful cigarette/formula counter. Why oh why does Food Lion insist on making it difficult to check out? And why, oh why, are they making this change? We had fully converted to Bloom but will be back at the (sigh) Harris Teeter. Maybe we'll get lucky and it will fail and Lowes Foods will take over the spot.
PUBLIX where are you? Their prices, selection, and customer service would put HT & FL out of business within 24 months. Even though I have money to spend, I dont want to blow it on over-priced or medicore food!
I have recently moved to the Atlanta area and pretty much your only options are Kroger and Publix. One of the things I miss most is shopping at Harris Teeter. The Publix stores are nice as are most of the Kroger stores but NOTHING compares to Harris Teeter. Food Lion is disgusting!! I never went there when I lived in Charlotte. I just can't get over that whole 20/20 thing years ago...but even without that, the ones I have been in are dirty and ghetto. When you walk into a HT, its like a sigh of relief. The customer service is top notch to say the least. The people are helpful and every time I check out, the cashier is genuinely glad that I came. At Food Lion, Shameica is usually concerned with checking her cell phone or looking at her multi-colored nails. This obviously is just my opinion. I have never had a bad experience at HT. Food Lion, Publix and Kroger...yeah, not so much. HT...please come back to Atlanta. I can't believe in a city of this size, there are only two major chains. Boy, I miss Charlotte!!!
Shop at BI-LO and save money on Gas with fuel perks instead.
I live in Raleigh and find the Food Lion there equally disgusting as that in Charlotte. It is always hard to find a satisfying box of meat, and fishes in Food Lion. In Raleigh, lovely enough like Atlanta, I like Kroger a lot.
Love me some Aldi's!!!
I wish this store - which was originally a Kroger - would become a Kroger again!
I was there with my boyfriend yesterday and unfortunately, the crowd, selection, and appearance was a drastic change from when it was a Bloom. The employees were unfriendly and the customers were "janky" to say the least. I'll be staying at Costco and HT.
Look at the bottom of your receipt from your last purchase.
food-lion-survey
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