Southeastern Grocers (SEG), parent company of Bi-Lo, Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie stores, announced that the company has sold the Bi-Lo and Harveys Supermarkets branded grocery stores to Food Lion.
According to the company's statement, SEG has reached an agreement to sell 62 stores, including 46 BI-LO and 16 Harveys Supermarkets, to Food Lion, a subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize, and is actively exploring strategic options for the remaining BI-LO stores, including other potential transactions.
The transition from Bi-Lo to Food Lion will not be completed until April 2021. During that time, the Bi-Lo stores are expected to remain open until the transaction is complete, at which time the stores will operate under the Food Lion banner.
SEG operates 7 Bi-Lo locations in the greater Columbia area. Food Lion has 14 locations in the Midlands.
In a separate release, Food Lion President Meg Ham said, "We are so excited to add these new locations to our more than 630 stores across Georgia and the Carolinas. 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.”
Food Lion expects to hire more than 4,650 associates to serve customers at the 62 new stores.
SEG has also reached an agreement to transition its Mauldin, S.C., distribution center to Ahold Delhaize USA Distribution, LLC, the handover of which is anticipated to be complete in the first half of 2021.
Separately, SEG is also divesting the assets of 57 of the in-store pharmacies it operates under the BI-LO and Harveys Supermarket banners to CVS and Walgreens. These locations, which include all of the company’s BI-LO pharmacies and nine Harveys Supermarket pharmacies in Georgia, will begin to transition within the next two weeks. During this process, SEG will seek to minimize any interruption to customers and to ensure the smooth transition of their prescriptions.
