New Food City Store Coming to Kentucky
Food City has released plans to construct a new 51,300-square-foot store using some of an existing building in South Williamson, Ky.
The company will temporarily close its existing store on April 8 to begin construction. Store associates will be relocated to surrounding stores during the closure.
“As you can imagine, closing the store, even temporarily was an extremely difficult decision,” said Steven C. Smith, Food City president and CEO. “Unfortunately, it’s the only viable option to safely construct a new store on the same site. Rest assured that we will utilize every resource at our disposal to complete the project as quickly as possible to minimize inconvenience to our customers."
The new store is expected to open late fall.
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During the closing, area residents can shop Food City stores in nearby Pikeville and Shelbiana, as well as its Super Dollar Food Center in Pikeville.
The Food City Pharmacy will be relocated to a temporary facility in front of the store and will remain open throughout the construction. The pharmacy will also carry a limited number of WIC-approved grocery and convenience items for customers wishing to redeem their Kentucky or West Virginia WIC benefits.
“We’re proud to have served the residents of Pike County for 60 years, and we couldn’t be more excited to have the opportunity to build a new state-of-the-art Food City to serve our loyal customers,” added Smith.
Some of the prepared food solutions that the new South Williamson supermarket will offer include a full-service deli offering; an Asian Wok; a hot-food bar with a large 80-plus café seating area; a fresh food bar featuring a variety of soup and salad options; fresh sushi; and catering services.
In the full-service meat department, in-house butchers will hand-cut steaks and fresh meat to order. Expanded grocery and produce departments will feature a complete selection of specialty, gourmet and vegan items.
The Food City Floral Boutique will be staffed with a designer seven days a week and offer a full assortment of fresh-cut floral arrangements, bouquets and gift items.
Along with more modern décor, the new South Williamson location will also include a Starbucks Café, a Food City Pharmacy equipped with an outside pickup window, and a Food City Gas ‘n Go featuring diesel fuel. Energy-saving concepts will include energy-efficient glass cooler doors, parking lot lights and refrigeration systems, as well as 100% LED lighting.
Rapid checkout service will be provided by six checkout lanes and seven self-checkouts, with GoCart curbside pickup also available.
“We’re very excited about the new store and the additional services and conveniences it will provide, and I think our customers will find it well worth the wait,” noted Josh Blevins, store manager.
Also expected to open later this year are new Food City locations in Kimball and Chattanooga, Tenn.
Food City’s parent company, Abingdon, Va.-based K-VA-T Food Stores, operates 150 retail outlets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, north Georgia and Alabama. K-VA-T is No. 68 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
