Food City Breaks Ground on New Grocery Stores in Alabama
Earlier this month, Food City broke ground on a trio of new stores in Alabama and Tennessee.
The two new stores in Alabama are part of six locations planned for the Huntsville market. A 32,600-square-foot store will be located on Governor’s Drive and is expected to open early next year. The other supermarket will be located on Memorial Parkway NE. This 56,000-square-foot location is also expected to also open early next year. Food City’s first Huntsville location, on Owens Cross Roads, is scheduled to open in early summer of this year.
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“We’re excited to be joining the Huntsville retail community and look forward to creating quality jobs and tax revenue for the residents of Huntsville and Madison County,” said Steven C. Smith, Food City president and CEO.
The food retailer entered Alabama in 2021 with the opening of the state's first Food City store, in Albertville. It has since opened its second Alabama location, in Gadsden.
Meanwhile, the new store in Tennessee will be located on Able Drive in Dayton. The 55,000-square-foot retail supermarket is expected to open early next year and will replace the existing location on Market Street.
“We appreciate the support the residents of Dayton and Rhea County have shown our company, and we’re excited to provide our loyal customers with a much-needed new state-of-the-art Food City to better serve their needs,” said Smith.
All three new stores will offer a number of premium services, including an in-store bakery and deli, complete with a hot food bar; a café seating area and fireplace; an Asian wok; a fresh food bar offering a variety of soup, salad and fruit selections; a hickory wood smoker; a pizza oven; and fresh sushi.
Full-service meat and seafood departments will offer top-quality meats, including Certified Angus Beef and pre-marinated/seasoned oven-ready products. In-house butchers will be available to hand-cut steaks and fresh meat to order.
Expanded grocery, frozen food and produce departments in the stores will go well beyond the usual fare with a huge selection of specialty, gourmet and vegan items.
The Food City Floral Boutiques will be staffed by designers seven days a week and offer a full assortment of fresh-cut floral arrangements, bouquets, gift items and more.
The three stores will also include Food City Pharmacies and Starbucks cafes.
Checkout will consist of traditional checkout lanes as well as self-checkout options, with curbside pickup also available.
In addition, the new locations will feature several energy-saving concepts, including energy-efficient glass cooler doors, parking lot lights and refrigeration systems; motion sensors; and 100% LED lighting.
Food City’s parent company, Abingdon, Va.-based K-VA-T Food Stores, operates more than 150 retail outlets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, north Georgia and Alabama. K-VA-T is No. 70 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
