VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WVEC) — Renovations at the Salem Lakes Food Lion grocery store in Virginia Beach were unveiled by Food Lion officials today.
“Today is probably the highlight of my career with Food Lion,” said store manager Adam Massie.
This store's upgrades were part of a bigger project to renovate 105 Food Lion stores from Williamsburg to Elizabeth City. The project cost the grocery corporation $168 million to update all 105 Norfolk district stores.
From the expanded produce and food selection to the renovated floors and shelves, Massie gave us a first look inside his store.
Massie said customers were able to still shop for groceries during the renovations, but now, “It’s night and day difference. It’s incredibly bright in here. It’s well lit, it’s inviting."
As part of its grand unveiling, the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank will be one of the organizations to receive a nearly $200,000 donation from Food Lion. CEO Karen Joyner said they will use that money to buy a new truck to help them collect donated food.
“We want to rescue that food because it’s still great food and it needs to be on somebody’s table,” she said.
Food Lion’s President, Meg Ham said the company changes also included hiring 4,000 new employees. Ham said even with all the changes, the company still has the same values.
“We believe no one should have to choose between dinner and rent,” said Ham.
She said those values are what gives them an edge in the grocery store business.
“It’s a highly competitive industry... it doesn’t matter which market we’re in,” said Ham. “We need to continue to get better and better and stay relevant with what customers are looking for.”
There will be a 7:45 a.m. ribbon cutting for the ‘official re-launch’ for all renovated Food Lions on Wednesday. The company is expected to give away gift cards and thermal tote bags to the first 100 customers at all of its greater Norfolk-area locations, after the ceremony.