Food Lion last week unveiled its new, easier shopping experience for customers in 142 stores in the greater Charlotte, N.C., market. The company made a landmark $215 million capital investment this year, the second largest in the grocer's history. The investment includes remodeling the stores, lowering prices, hiring hundreds of additional associates and giving back to local communities.

“Food Lion has been a proud neighbor in the Charlotte community for 60 years," said Meg Ham, president of Food Lion. "As we near our 60th anniversary, we spent the year making significant investments in our stores, customers, associates and communities to create a new grocery shopping experience. Now, customers can easily find fresh, quality products at affordable prices, delivered with caring, friendly service every time they shop.”

Among the changes customers will see are:

• Fully remodeled stores that provide an easier place to shop for customers by grouping like products, installing new signage to help locate items faster, as well as a more efficient checkout process,
• Lower prices on thousands of items across all departments,
• Improved quality and freshness for products throughout the store, including produce and meats,
• Expanded assortment and item selection across all departments along with more natural, organic and gluten-free items, and
• Enhanced customer service achieved by promoting and hiring hundreds of associates throughout the region and investing in additional customer-centric training for nearly 10,000 associates in the market.

“With every change we make, we always have our customers at heart," added Ham. "That's why we not only invested in our stores, we also invested in promoting great associates and hiring promising new talent. It's also why, as part of our grand re-opening celebrations, we're partnering again with Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina to help end hunger in the towns and cities we serve. Giving back to our communities is something we're just as passionate about as serving our customers every day in our stores."

Expanded Product Selection
Food Lion expanded its product selection in stores by adding an abundant selection of fresh meat and produce backed by Food Lion's double-your-money-back guarantee, increasing gluten-free items, growing its selection of Nature's Place beef, pork, poultry, salads and bakery items, free from unwanted ingredients and unveiling a new Taste of Inspirations premium line of deli meats and cheeses.

Food Lion will continue to launch enhancements across all of its nearly 1,100 stores in 2016, as well as remodel additional markets over time. Charlotte is the fourth area to be remodeled. The company remodeled 162 stores in the greater Raleigh, N.C., area in 2015, along with 76 stores in the greater Wilmington, N.C., and Greenville, N.C., markets in 2014.

Food Lion, based in Salisbury, N.C., since 1957, has nearly 1,100 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states and employs more than 65,000 associates.

Below is a gallery of photos from one of the remodeled Charlotte stores.