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I've heard that they will leave the Charlotte area for 3 years. I don't know if it's true, but I've heard it from multiple people.
This is what I see:
BiLo operates with Food Lion, Publix, & Ingles in Upstate SC
4 years ago, Bob Ingle built an 80K square-foot store in Kings Mountain & the following March opened a 55K sq ft store in Dallas. Bob Ingle also bought land in Lincolnton & was looking tn Gastonia & Belmont. Then Bob Ingle died & his son Bob II became the head of the chain. Bob II stopped expansion for a year & expanded their distribution center at Black Mountain. He has started infilling in the Upstate. Now Publix is coming into the Charlotte market from the south. No one knows when Bob II will start building again from the west.
Are you getting the picture? You have to look at the 2 markets to get the whole picture.
I'm very confused on how that was relevant to BI-LO leaving.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fltonc12
I'm very confused on how that was relevant to BI-LO leaving.
BiLo's market share is slipping. Up until now they only had pressure from Ingles on their Gastonia stores. Now Publix is going to pressure them from the south. At the same time Ingles is pressuring them in upstate SC. I hope that that's clear enough.
Bi-Lo has struggled for years in the State of North Carolina. Instead of growing as it was ten years ago, Bi-Lo has very few stores remaining in western North Carolina and has pulled out of markets like Greensboro and Fayetteville. Publix's presence in Charlotte will not eliminate Bi-Lo overnight as a competitor, but it will weaken its share of the market alongside Food Lion.
Six years after expanding into upstate South Carolina, Food Lion's accomplishments have been eight stores closing, the elimination of the Bloom brand, and not generating a positive response in that market. Food Lion offered to acquire Bi-Lo in 2009, an idea that would have increased Food Lion's presence throughout many South Carolina and Chattanooga markets while maintaining the regional power Bi-Lo is and would have helped Food Lion in strong areas like pharmacy.
Ingle's has not added many stores since the passing of its founder, Robert P. Ingle, in 2011, but many existing stores are receiving upgrades with renovations and the addition of pharmacies, fuel centers and Starbucks. A Greenville, South Carolina weekly newspaper reported last week Ingle's intention to open several new stores in the area. From my contacts in the local grocery scene, two stores are being rebuilt and expanded, one store is relocating to a new location, one new store will be built on the site of an old store, and several new stores will be added throughout the county.
Even if their HQ's are moved to FL, BI-LO has a large persistence in the Carolina's. BI-LO also doesn't only operate in the Charlotte market within the state. While their business has definitely declined within the last couple of years, having a new grocer come into the state doesn't necessarily mean BI-LO will leave. With Publix currently only having plans to come to Charlotte, BI-LO could open in areas that do not have many other grocers to compete with.
Or you could be completely right and they could leave the state.
Bi-Lo has a large presence in SC, NC not so much. They only have about 35 stores in the whole state of NC, with about 20 of those in the general Charlotte metro (not counting a few that they have in the Rock Hill/Fort Mill area in SC). They don't have much of a presence in any part of NC outside of Charlotte, the rest of their NC scores are basically scattered around western NC for the most part.
I don't know what will happen with their NC stores, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see them go away. Yeah, they have a few nice stores, but many of their Charlotte stores are in downscale areas with downscale stores even though their prices really aren't that downscale. I'm not sure if I picture any retailer buying all of them because of this, but they certainly do have a couple locations that would be snatched up quickly.
The Charlotte metro has about 40 BI-LO's and 3 Ingles stores.
Publix is a baby in North Carolina, as it is just entering. One store alone is not going to cause 40 BI-LO's to become extinct.
Competition is obvious with Publix coming to NC for all grocery store chains. It's as if everyone is going to prefer Publix over Food Lion, Ingles, Harris Teeter or BI-LO and that's not true. While I, and many other Charlotteans are excited for Publix to finally come to NC, some have never heard of Publix or prefer other stores over Publix.
The Charlotte metro has about 40 BI-LO's and 3 Ingles stores.
Publix is a baby in North Carolina, as it is just entering. One store alone is not going to cause 40 BI-LO's to become extinct.
Competition is obvious with Publix coming to NC for all grocery store chains. It's as if everyone is going to prefer Publix over Food Lion, Ingles, Harris Teeter or BI-LO and that's not true. While I, and many other Charlotteans are excited for Publix to finally come to NC, some have never heard of Publix or prefer other stores over Publix.
You forgot Walmart, Costco, Aldi's & BJ's...
Many, many people get their groceries at these places and never set foot in the ones you mentioned.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,678,989 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fltonc12
The Charlotte metro has about 40 BI-LO's and 3 Ingles stores.
Publix is a baby in North Carolina, as it is just entering. One store alone is not going to cause 40 BI-LO's to become extinct.
Competition is obvious with Publix coming to NC for all grocery store chains. It's as if everyone is going to prefer Publix over Food Lion, Ingles, Harris Teeter or BI-LO and that's not true. While I, and many other Charlotteans are excited for Publix to finally come to NC, some have never heard of Publix or prefer other stores over Publix.
How much did you know about the supermarkets west of Charlotte before yesterday? My guess is nothing. I didn't mention the other Ingles stores in Cleveland County, so you didn't add them into your total. Do you work for BiLo? Teeter didn't want to fight Ingles & Publix. They were not winning the war with Ingles. They struck a deal with Lowes Foods. Teeter was the instigator of that deal. They did not leave Lincoln County because there is not an Ingles there, yet.
Ingles & Publix play well in Upstate SC.. No one is saying that things will change overnight, However, Ingles is putting pressure on BiLo in their home market. If the Publix entry pushes someone out, it will be BiLo. They're going to be more concerned about Winn Dixie than a few stores in the Charlotte area.
The Charlotte metro has about 40 BI-LO's and 3 Ingles stores.
Publix is a baby in North Carolina, as it is just entering. One store alone is not going to cause 40 BI-LO's to become extinct.
Competition is obvious with Publix coming to NC for all grocery store chains. It's as if everyone is going to prefer Publix over Food Lion, Ingles, Harris Teeter or BI-LO and that's not true. While I, and many other Charlotteans are excited for Publix to finally come to NC, some have never heard of Publix or prefer other stores over Publix.
No one said Bi-lo was leaving today. It will take a few yrs, but I suspect they will leave. Publix just opened two stores in the area with. a Ballantyne location coming in 2014. Publix will be coming in full speed ahead. They have announced that they are going to open offices here and to be aggressive throughout the state of NC over the next few years.
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