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BI-LO/Bruno�s president and CEO Dean Cohagan held his second press conference of the summer in Simpsonville this morning to announce the company�s capital plans totaling over $75 million for the Upstate in the next 18 months. The occasion was a groundbreaking for the largest supermarket the chain has ever built.
The newest Super BI-LO will be located in Simpsonville at the intersection of Highways 14 and 417 and will be 63,000 square feet. Representing an investment of over $10 million, the store will open in early summer of 2007 with approximately 100 employees. McDonald Properties, the developer, has plans to build an additional 16,000-square-feet of retail space for other businesses at the site. The Super BI-LO format is the latest prototype for BI-LO supermarkets, offering an expanded selection of grocery items, more varieties of organic and natural foods, full-service meat and seafood markets, a greatly enhanced wine selection and movies rentals via a kiosk for $1.49 per day. The store�s interior will feature a new, bright decor design recently honored by Chain Store Age magazine. The blue ceiling and clouds over the Produce Department give it the ambiance of an open-air market. Super BI-LO provides many one-stop shopping conveniences including a coffee shop, sushi, and a full-service bank. The new Simpsonville store will also include a drive-through pharmacy and Wellspot Health and Wellness Center, which is staffed by family nurse practitioners who can provide treatment and diagnosis for routine conditions. Other services provided at Wellspot include prescriptions, as needed, diagnostic tests, immunizations, vaccinations, physicals, illness management and wellness counseling. In remarks prior to the groundbreaking, Cohagan outlined plans for the company�s growth in the Upstate for the remainder of 2006 and 2007. �We have been completing a lot of market research, identifying the best sites and working on store designs to serve our customers and build our company,� said Cohagan. �And now we�re ready and eager to vigorously pursue new growth opportunities in our core markets. This is a new era for BI-LO.� In addition to the $10 million Super BI-LO project in Simpsonville, the company also announced plans to expand its existing store locations on Pelham Road at I-85 in Greenville and 501 Old Greenville Highway in Clemson, at a combined cost of approximately $9 million. The Pelham Road location will be expanded from 55,000 square feet to 63,000 square feet and will also carry the Super BI-LO banner. New amenities will include a drive-through pharmacy, Wellspot Health and Wellness Center, bank, coffee shop, and expanded perishable department offerings, including meat, seafood, produce, deli and bakery. The expansion will begin soon and is expected to be completed in late spring of 2007. The Clemson location will be expanded from 47,000 to 53,000 square feet and will include expanded perishable offerings, a new drive-through pharmacy, bank and coffee shop. The expansion is also expected to be complete in spring of 2007. BI-LO will also remodel an additional four stores in the Upstate area within the next twelve months at a total cost of between $8-$12 million. The addresses of the stores are as follows:
Finally, BI-LO is pursuing at least six new or relocation store sites in Greer, Anderson, Wren, Moonville, and Greenville and will announce those locations as negotiations are finalized with developers. These projects average $7.5 million to $10 million each, depending on the size of the store and the specific location. In total, the combination of 2006 and 2007 store projects represents a capital investment of approximately $75 million in the Upstate. BI-LO is the market leader in the Upstate area, which includes the Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson trade areas, both in terms of number of stores and market share. With 61 Upstate supermarkets, the chain has roughly a 34% market share as reported by Metro Market Studies in their 2006 Grocery Distribution Analysis and Guide. With headquarters in Mauldin, SC, BI-LO/Bruno�s operates a total of 310 supermarkets in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and Alabama and employs 23,500 people.
For more information about Bi-Lo, visit http://www.bi-lo.com. (Image provided by Bi-Lo.)
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