Today Food Lion unveiled a new, easier shopping experience for customers in 162 stores in the greater Raleigh, NC, market. In an effort to make shopping more affordable for its customers, the company made a landmark $250 million capital investment this year, the largest in the grocer's history. The total investment in the market includes remodeling the stores, lowering prices and investing in associates and in the community.

Food Lion expanded its product selection in stores by adding thousands of new items and lowering prices throughout the store. The new assortment of products includes an abundant selection of fresh produce backed by Food Lion's promise of quality and freshness.

The stores have received remodels as part of the grocer's "Easy, Fresh and Affordable…You Can Count on Food Lion Every Day" strategy. Food Lion will continue to roll out storewide enhancements in markets over time.

"Food Lion has been a proud neighbor in the Raleigh community for 40 years," Meg Ham, president of Food Lion, said in a press release. "On the anniversary of our four decades in the market, we spent the year making significant investments in our stores, our customers, our associates and our community to offer a new grocery shopping experience where customers can easily find fresh, quality products at affordable prices every day, delivered with caring, friendly service every time they shop. We invite our customers to come out and experience 'How Life is Better with the Lion' at Food Lion and let us know what you think of the new stores."

Food Lion has also added easy and affordable meals for families, including weekend deals from Friday to Sunday and hot meals with sides available seven days a week. The grocer now has a wider variety of grab-and-go items and pre-sliced deli meats and cheeses, which are sliced fresh daily and available for customers to pick up without waiting in line.

Key outcomes of the investments include the following:

• Fully remodeled stores that provide an easier place to shop for customers.
• Lower prices on thousands of items across all departments of the store.
• Fresher produce, quality meats, an expanded selection of natural and organic items, as well as a dedicated gluten-free section.
• Enhanced customer service created by promoting or hiring hundreds of associates throughout the market and investing in additional customer-centric training for its 10,000 associates in this market.

"With every change we made in our stores, we had our customers at the forefront with a key focus on how can we better connect with those we serve to make their life a little easier and a little better," added Ham. "That's why we not only invested in the stores, but invested in promoting the great associates we already had at Food Lion and in new talent by redoubling our hiring efforts this year. It's also why, as part of the launch of our new stores, we're partnering with the food bank in a big and lasting way to help this important organization expand its efforts to end hunger in a significant portion of the state. Giving back to our communities is something that we're just as passionate about as serving our customers every day in our stores."

Knowing customers want to get in and out of the store quickly, Food Lion made checkout faster with improved technology, larger display screens so customers can see items and prices as they are scanned and additional associates available to assist and meet the needs of customers.

Consistent with its focus on eliminating hunger in its local communities, Food Lion Feeds has also donated a one-of-a-kind mobile food pantry, valued at over $100,000, or the equivalent of more than 1 million meals, to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. The innovative vehicle will bring food to places where there is a need throughout the 34 counties served by the food bank, whether it's a school, disaster location or community without access to fresh, healthy food.

"Food Lion has been a tremendous partner for our food bank and without their support, we would not be able to serve the thousands of clients we feed each year," Peter Werbicki, president and chief executive officer of Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, said in the release. "We're very excited about this innovative mobile pantry, which will enable our agency to deliver food into areas in the Raleigh market traditionally underserved by feeding agencies. We can always count on Food Lion to meet our needs to help end the fight of hunger in communities. Their associates are extremely passionate about helping to eliminate hunger and we appreciate all they do, whether its daily donations from their stores, volunteering at various events, or making a significant investment in our community that would not have been possible without this donation."

The mobile pantry donation is part of the grocer's commitment to provide 500 million meals to individuals and families in need by the end of 2020.