10/12/2023

Lowes Foods to Open 1st Store in Georgia

Grocer reveals plans to adjust portfolio of stores

Digital Editor

A new store in Georgia will be an important area of growth for Lowes Foods.

Lowes Foods is adjusting its portfolio of stores as it branches out of its Carolinas territory.

The grocer has revealed plans to open its first store in Georgia. Lowes Foods acquired Foothills IGA Market in Marble Hill, Ga. The store will continue to operate as an IGA for the next few months and will become a Lowes Foods store sometime in early 2024.

Lowes Foods is also growing its footprint in South Carolina. It will open its fifth location in the Charleston market, in Summerville. The Summerville store will measure 50,887 square feet and anchor a new retail center between two large Berkeley County residential developments. The new Lowes Foods store, scheduled to open in 2025, is on the northeast side of the 5,000-acre Nexton community.

Amid its expansion plans, Lowes Foods said it will close two stores. While Food Country purchased a Lowes Foods location in Stuart, Va., at the end of September, the Lowes Foods store in Yadkinville, N.C., will be closing for good at the end of this month. Employees in the Yadkinville store are being given opportunities at other Lowes Foods locations.

“Lowes Foods is deeply committed to providing an exceptional shopping experience for our guests at all our store locations,” said Tim Lowe, head of retail at Alex Lee and president of Lowes Foods. “Our coming stores in Summerville and Georgia will be important areas of growth for our company, and we’re excited about our continuing expansion in those markets. We also are pleased that Food Country has agreed to work to retain our employees in Stuart as our store there becomes part of the Food Country brand.” Lowe will be a speaker at Progressive Grocer’s Grocery Impact event in Orlando, Fla., next month.

In addition to Summerville and Marble Hill, Lowes has previously unveiled new stores in Aiken, S.C., and Kannapolis, Concord, Indian Land and Winterville, all in North Carolina. A new store in Pittsboro, N.C., opened in June of this year.

A wholly owned subsidiary of Hickory, N.C.-based Alex Lee Inc., Lowes Foods LLC employs approximately 9,000 people and operates more than 80 full-service supermarkets in the Carolinas. The company is No. 65 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named Lowes a Top Regional for 2023.