Food Lion has roared through the years

The longest journey starts with a single step. Similar reasoning could be used for Food Lion’s journey.

For, who could have guessed that the single Food Town grocery store opened in 1957 in Salisbury, NC, by brothers Brown and Ralph Ketner, along with Wilson Smith would become the 1,100 plus store supermarket chain Food Lion? Especially since the trio had to raise funds to open that first store by sifting through the phone book cold-calling local citizens offering low-dollar investments.

On Dec. 12, 1957, after three days of phone calls enough money was amassed and Food Town was born. At the time it was one of the largest supermarkets in the area with a sales floor of more than 15,000 square feet. In 1964 Brown Ketner left the company and the Food Town management team was made up of Ralph Ketner, Wilson Smith and Tom Smith. In 1967, after 10 years of store openings and closings, the company had a network of seven stores in North Carolina. The company went public in 1970, as shares were listed on NASDAQ.

In 1974, Delhaize “Le Lion,” an expanding Belgian grocery company at the time, acquired a 34.5 percent share in Food Town stores. Ketner, Wilson Smith and Tom Smith remained and the first signs of Food Lion were taking shape as a lion was added to the Food Town logo. In 1977 the company expanded to South Carolina and had a total of 55 stores.

Then, the 1980s and rapid expansion arrived. However, before expansion there was one final piece of business. In 1983 Food Town officially changed its name to Food Lion. By 1987 Food Lion had a total of 475 stores across North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Maryland, Delaware and Florida. With low prices and modern, clean stores Food Lion thrived, committed to a strategy of conveniently located, smaller stores that better met customer needs.

By 1997 Food Lion had expanded to 1,157 stores, adding stores in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Along with the new formats, Food Lion enhanced its relationship with its community, creating a food rescue program in partnership with Feeding America to address food insecurity.

In 2014, Food Lion Feeds was created to focus the company’s efforts on hunger relief. “Since its inception Food Lion Feeds has donated more than 1 billion meals to families in need,” said Chris Dove, vice president of produce category, merchandising and pricing. “Our goal is to reach 1.5 billion meals by 2025.” That year also saw the launch of a new Food Lion logo.

Three years later the “Easy, Fresh & Affordable. You can count on Food Lion… Every day!” strategy was unveiled. Along with the slogan Food Lion improved its product assortment, added price adjustments and undertook a plethora of store remodels.

Food Lion’s most recent significant expansion came in 2021 when it acquired 71 additional stores, expanding its footprint in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

Photo: Food Lion founder, Ralph Ketner (right), in front of one of the early Food Town stores.