Food Lion debuts new store format in Concord

Salisbury-based Food Lion debuted a new store format Wednesday in Concord, with upscale features such as a big walk-in cooler to keep produce fresh and a wider selection of organic and gluten-free products.

The store was remodeled inside an existing Food Lion location on Union Street, spokeswoman Christy Phillips-Brown said. The store could be a model for future Food Lions, Phillips-Brown said. Here's a rundown of the new and improved features at the 22,000-square-foot store:

• The produce department is now a walk-in "garden cooler," designed to keep food fresher for longer.
• Grab-n-Go foods, daily dinner deals from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and more "$1 deals."
• Thousands of new items and more variety of organic and gluten-free items.
• Beef in new "sealed-fresh packaging."
• New registers with bigger screens designed to make it easier for customers to see what they're paying and check out more quickly.
• New bagging system where associates will put frozen and cold items in blue bags, so you know to unpack and refrigerate them quickly.

The walk-in "garden cooler"

The new daily dinner menu

Food Lion is a subsidiary of Belgian grocery conglomerate Delhaize. The company is trying to regain its position as a low-price leader against discounters such as Walmart while also working to combat more upscale shopping from chains such as Publix and Harris Teeter.

Food Lion ranks third in the region's grocery sales, according to Chain Store Guide, behind Harris Teeter and Walmart.

In August, I sat down with Food Lion CEO Beth Newlands Campbell. "There's an imperative to set us apart," Newlands Campbell said. "You can’t be middle of the road."

You can read her whole interview here.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/08/16/4241892/food-lions-new-ceo-we-just-have.html#.Up-sH8RDvE0#storylink=cpy

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