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BI-LO (United States)
Encyclopedia
BI-LO is a supermarket
chain headquartered in Mauldin, South Carolina
. As of May 2010, BI-LO operates 207 supermarkets in South Carolina
, North Carolina
, Georgia
, and Tennessee
. The company employs approximately 17,000 people. Supermarket News ranked BI-LO No. 34 in the 2007 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2006 fiscal year estimated sales of $3.6 billion.
1963 after Outlaw conducted an employee store-naming contest to develop the "brand." His secretary, Edna Plumblee, won the contest by submitting the name "BI-LO."
BI-LO was sold to Ahold
(a Dutch retail food conglomerate) in 1977. In 1994, Ahold purchased Red Food Stores, Inc.
and merged its locations (around 55 of them) in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee into BI-LO the following year. In 2001, Ahold purchased the Birmingham, Alabama
based Bruno's Supermarkets
chain and combined its operations with BI-LO.
In 1998, the company sponsored the construction of the BI-LO Center
in Greenville, South Carolina
.
Throughout late 2004 and 2005, the company gradually phased out its private label "BI-LO" brand for its store products and replaced them with new packaging and a new name, "Southern Home." In 2005, Ahold sold BI-LO/Bruno's to Lone Star Funds
. In order to concentrate on renovating older stores, building new ones, and investing in newer information technology, the new owners sold off 104 BI-LO and Bruno's stores in areas where the chain did not have significant market penetration as well as the three BI-LO/Bruno's distribution centers to grocery wholesaler, C&S Wholesale Grocers
who converted some of the stores to Southern Family Markets
. Included in the sell-off were all stores in the Knoxville, TN area which nearly all were immediately occupied by Food City
stores. As of 2010, one location in the area has not been leased to any business in five years, in part due to Food City already owning a former Winn-Dixie
location just a short walk away.
On March 21, 2007, Lone Star Funds announced that they were spinning off the 67 Bruno's Supermarkets and Food World stores from BI-LO LLC into a separate company to be based out of Birmingham. On April 16, 2007, Lone Star announced that they were putting the 230-store BI-LO chain up for sale. Soon after, C&S announced that it was closing the Chattanooga distribution center that served the BI-LO's in the Chattanooga area and portions of Northern Georgia.
On March 23, 2009, the company announced that it had filed chapter 11 bankruptcy and intends to use the court-supervised process to address "an upcoming debt maturity." The move was largely due to the current credit crisis. The company said that expects its stores and regular operations to continue to operate as usual during the process. The company secured a $100 million loan from GE Capital in order to continue paying wages, salaries, benefits, suppliers and vendors. In October of 2009, Delhaize Group
, headquartered in Belgium
and owner of competing chain Food Lion
, announced that it entered a preliminary, non-binding agreement to purchase $425 million worth of assets from the chain. Shortly after, in November 2009, the company filed plans with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to restructure, with parent company Lone Star Funds providing a $350 million cash infusion, and Delhaize Group and Food Lion left out of the plans. Lone Star Funds said that it was possible that BI-LO could emerge from bankruptcy in the first quarter of 2010.
On May 12, 2010, the company officially emerged from bankruptcy protection, under a plan approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of South Carolina. Bi-Lo, a Supermarket News Top 75 Retailer for 2010, remains under ownership of LoneStar Funds after restructuring. BI-LO was reportedly put up for sale in August 2010; Kroger and Publix were said to be interested in acquiring the chain, but nothing ever developed from these rumors.
.
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
chain headquartered in Mauldin, South Carolina
Mauldin, South Carolina
Mauldin is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 15,224 at the 2000 census. It is a principal city of the Greenville–Mauldin–Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
. As of May 2010, BI-LO operates 207 supermarkets in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, and Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. The company employs approximately 17,000 people. Supermarket News ranked BI-LO No. 34 in the 2007 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2006 fiscal year estimated sales of $3.6 billion.
History
BI-LO was founded in 1961 by Frank L. Outlaw. The original name was Wrenn & Outlaw. The company was officially named BI-LO in1963 after Outlaw conducted an employee store-naming contest to develop the "brand." His secretary, Edna Plumblee, won the contest by submitting the name "BI-LO."
BI-LO was sold to Ahold
Ahold
Ahold is a major international supermarket operator based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Ahold is listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.-History:...
(a Dutch retail food conglomerate) in 1977. In 1994, Ahold purchased Red Food Stores, Inc.
Red Food
Red Food Stores, Inc. was a supermarket chain company headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It operated stores mostly in northwest Georgia, northeast Alabama, and southeast Tennessee. Around 55 stores were operated in the same three states...
and merged its locations (around 55 of them) in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee into BI-LO the following year. In 2001, Ahold purchased the Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
based Bruno's Supermarkets
Bruno's Supermarkets
Bruno's Supermarkets, LLC is an American chain of grocery stores founded in 1932 by Joe Bruno in Birmingham, Alabama. It previously operated over 230 stores under the names Bruno’s, Food World, Foodmax, Food Fair, Fresh Value, Vincent's Markets, Piggly Wiggly, Consumer Foods, and American Fare in...
chain and combined its operations with BI-LO.
In 1998, the company sponsored the construction of the BI-LO Center
Bi-Lo Center
The BI-LO Center is an arena located in downtown Greenville, South Carolina, that is used for concerts, football, and hockey. The arena is currently used by the Greenville Force of the Southern Indoor Football League and the Greenville Road Warriors of the ECHL.- History :The BI-LO Center was...
in Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
.
Lone Star Funds
Lone Star Funds is a worldwide private equity firm based in Dallas, Texas, that specializes in purchasing distressed companies and assets, often well-known consumer brands that have seen better times or gone through financial difficulties due to leveraged buy-outs...
. In order to concentrate on renovating older stores, building new ones, and investing in newer information technology, the new owners sold off 104 BI-LO and Bruno's stores in areas where the chain did not have significant market penetration as well as the three BI-LO/Bruno's distribution centers to grocery wholesaler, C&S Wholesale Grocers
C&S Wholesale Grocers
C&S Wholesale Grocers is a wholesale distributor of food and grocery store items. With its headquarters in Keene, New Hampshire, C&S is the twelfth-largest privately held company in the United States, as listed in 2008 by Forbes. , they are the eighth-largest such company...
who converted some of the stores to Southern Family Markets
Southern Family Markets
Southern Family Markets, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is a chain of American supermarkets owned and operated by C&S Wholesale Grocers, a distributor based in Keene, New Hampshire. The chain is operated as an affiliate of C&S...
. Included in the sell-off were all stores in the Knoxville, TN area which nearly all were immediately occupied by Food City
Food City
Food City may refer to:Food stores*K-VA-T Food City, a U.S. supermarket chain with stores located in Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee.*Food City, an Arizona ethnic/specialty food store acquired by Bashas' in 1993....
stores. As of 2010, one location in the area has not been leased to any business in five years, in part due to Food City already owning a former Winn-Dixie
Winn-Dixie
Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. is an American supermarket chain based in Jacksonville, Florida. Winn-Dixie has ranked number 24 in the 2010 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2009 fiscal year estimated sales of $7.3 billion by Supermarket News. and was ranked the 43rd largest retailer in the...
location just a short walk away.
On March 21, 2007, Lone Star Funds announced that they were spinning off the 67 Bruno's Supermarkets and Food World stores from BI-LO LLC into a separate company to be based out of Birmingham. On April 16, 2007, Lone Star announced that they were putting the 230-store BI-LO chain up for sale. Soon after, C&S announced that it was closing the Chattanooga distribution center that served the BI-LO's in the Chattanooga area and portions of Northern Georgia.
On March 23, 2009, the company announced that it had filed chapter 11 bankruptcy and intends to use the court-supervised process to address "an upcoming debt maturity." The move was largely due to the current credit crisis. The company said that expects its stores and regular operations to continue to operate as usual during the process. The company secured a $100 million loan from GE Capital in order to continue paying wages, salaries, benefits, suppliers and vendors. In October of 2009, Delhaize Group
Delhaize Group
Delhaize Group is a food retailer headquartered in Belgium which operates in eight countries and on three continents. The principal activity of Delhaize Group is the operation of food supermarkets.-History:Delhaize Group was founded in Belgium in 1867....
, headquartered in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and owner of competing chain Food Lion
Food Lion
Food Lion LLC is an American grocery store company headquartered in Salisbury, North Carolina that operates approximately 1,300 supermarkets in 11 Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states as well as Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia under the Food Lion, Harveys Supermarket, Bloom, Bottom Dollar...
, announced that it entered a preliminary, non-binding agreement to purchase $425 million worth of assets from the chain. Shortly after, in November 2009, the company filed plans with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to restructure, with parent company Lone Star Funds providing a $350 million cash infusion, and Delhaize Group and Food Lion left out of the plans. Lone Star Funds said that it was possible that BI-LO could emerge from bankruptcy in the first quarter of 2010.
On May 12, 2010, the company officially emerged from bankruptcy protection, under a plan approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of South Carolina. Bi-Lo, a Supermarket News Top 75 Retailer for 2010, remains under ownership of LoneStar Funds after restructuring. BI-LO was reportedly put up for sale in August 2010; Kroger and Publix were said to be interested in acquiring the chain, but nothing ever developed from these rumors.
Super BI-LO
In 2003, BI-LO invested in redesigning its store layout to attract high end customers. The result was the new Super BI-LO concept of a larger store layout featuring a greater selection of healthier foods, specialty foods and organic foods. Since then the company has opened new Super BI-LO branded stores as well as remodeled older stores in affluent neighborhoods. As of 2011, the chain no longer actively promotes the 'Super' concept in any of those stores, and has not opened or remodeled any more stores to the 'Super' concept since its 2009 bankruptcy filing. The name remains on Super BI-LO stores' signage and store fixtures.Promotions
BI-LO has offered its BI-LO Bonuscard discount program since the 1990s. In 2009, the chain re-vamped the card and started its "FuelPerks" campaign, in which the store partners with local gas station chains and when shoppers spend a certain amount at BI-LO, they receive 5, 10, 15 cents or more off of up to 20 gallons of gas at participating stations. As of September 2011, the FuelPerks program in the Carolinas has switched from the promotional cooperation with BP to ShellRoyal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
.
External links
- BI-LO Official website
- Journey to the Middle: ‘Nothing Fancy’ at Bi-Lo', Supermarket News