Food Lion opening this week in place of Port Royal BI-LO. Here’s when you can shop
Less than a month after a BI-LO grocery store closed in Port Royal, a new store is reopening the doors for customers.
Food Lion opens at 7 a.m. Wednesday, March 17, at 860 Parris Island Gateway and will be open until 11 p.m. daily.
The new store will have about 75 employees. Matt Harakal, external communications manager for Food Lion, said former BI-LO employees were invited to apply for positions, and about 50 were hired.
“That was one of the first things that we communicated with the former store associates was that they were welcome to apply,” he said. “We made that a point.”
Food Lion, based in Salisbury, North Carolina, announced last year that it had purchased 62 BI-LO and Harvey’s locations across South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. It currently has more than 1,000 stores across 10 states.
Jacksonville, Florida-based Southeastern Grocers has been phasing out its BI-LO brand and putting more focus on its Winn-Dixie stores, according to trade publication Supermarket News.
A BI-LO location in Beaufort, on Boundary Street, and one on Pope Avenue in Hilton Head are listed as open on the grocery chain’s website. However, The Greenville News, citing a customer support email, reported that all BI-LO stores would be closed by the end of April.
An emailed statement from Joe Caldwell, director of corporate communications for Southeastern Grocers, addressed the futures for the stores.
“Strategic options for the Hilton Head Island store are still being explored, however, should they not materialize, the store will close to the public on April 11,” Caldwell’s statement said. He added that the Boundary Street store would “transition” to another operator and would close as a BI-LO on Sunday, April 4.
Harakal said he could not comment on whether either store would become a Food Lion.
Parris Island Gateway location
A Food Lion news release said the new Port Royal store will feature a list of South Carolina products, including produce from W.P. Rawl Farms from Pelion, Columbia-based Cromer’s Popcorn, and Iron City Coffee roasted in Blythewood, among others.
The manager of the new Food Lion, Brandon Collins, was also the manager of the BI-LO that it is replacing.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to open this new store in Beaufort, a community I have served for many years,” Collins said in a news release.
Collins’ bio says he worked for BI-LO 11 years and was a store manager for seven of those.
As part of the store’s opening, the company gifted items to the Burton Fire Department and Port Royal Fire Station, faculty and staff at Riverview Charter School and Port Royal Elementary, and staff at the Beaufort County YMCA. It also donated $1,500 to Allen AME, which is an agency of the Lowcountry Food Bank. The church will regularly receive food to distribute from the store’s Food Lion Feeds program.
This story was originally published March 16, 2021 at 10:31 AM.
