Corporate logos of Weis Markets and Food Lion, respectively.CALLAWAY, Md. (July 14, 2016)—Late night shoppers at the Callaway Food Lion were met with locked doors Wednesday night. The lights were on and the parking lot was full of vehicles, but a sign hung on the door stating that the store was closed for a meeting and would reopen Thursday. Today, an announcement from Weis Markets, a food retailer based in Sunbury, Pa. may explain the late night employee meeting. Weis announced it has reached a definitive agreement with Food Lion, LLC, to purchase the assets of 38 Food Lion supermarket locations operating in the states of Maryland, Virginia and Delaware. The Company plans to complete the purchase of these locations pending regulatory approval.
The Food Lion stores based in So. Maryland included in the purchase are:
#784, 45315 Alton Lane, California
#2515, 20995 Point Lookout Road, Callaway
#1168, 100 Drury Drive, La Plata
#1210, 19 St. Mary's Square, Lexington Park
#2606, 210 H G Trueman Road, Lusby
#1526, 750 Prince Frederick Blvd, Prince Frederick
#1443, 13300 H G Trueman Road, Solomons
#1535, 5715 Crain Highway, Upper Marlboro
Weis Markets expects to complete the conversion process for the majority of these stores in September and October and is interested in hiring current Food Lion store teams for the purchased locations. "We look forward to interviewing and hiring team members who share our commitment to offering an industry-leading combination of value, quality and customer service," Weis said.
This is the Company's second major acquisition in 2016. In May, it announced plans to purchase five Mars Super Markets in Baltimore County, Maryland, a deal expected to close later this summer. When both purchases are complete, Weis Markets will have increased the number of its operating stores by more than 25 percent and will operate 203 stores in seven states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and West Virginia.