Bye, BI-LO

Former Lancaster, SC location

 While a handful of states away down the coast from New York, something like the closure of BI-LO last year in the South is never a good sign for the industry.  This is not the same chain that was sister to P&C and Quality in Northeast Pennsylvania and is still in business (Quality [not Kroger's QFC] and Franklin County's Big Bear [OH Capital Region, not GA Capital Region] are the only two Penn Traffic divisions that went the way of A&P and Safeway's Dominick's).  This BI-LO and Tops were formerly owned by Dutch company Ahold until both spun off and became independent, BI-LO Holdings becoming Southeastern Grocers.  While Tops survived bankruptcy and merged with Price Chopper, BI-LO could not this time.  Many locations were sold to Food Lion, who were owned by Belgian based Delhaize who merged with their Benelux rival (now-sister chain Hannaford used to be in the mid-Atlantic themselves until 2000 when it became one, having moved down the eastern seaboard after buying Wilsons.  Some stores went to Lowes [not the DIY one], likely because of state and FTC regulations). In 2023, Southeastern subsidiaries Winn-Dixie and Harveys were sold to ALDI.  Some will keep their name, while some smaller ones will just become the same ALDIs you can find almost anywhere in the country or some of Europe

I've never set foot south of Virginia myself, so I just can't do this the same way as usual, so it'll be more generalised this time.  Former BI-LOs could be sold to Food Lion (many have so far), Lidl (ALDIs chief rival in the old country), Lowes, Ingles, Publix, Piggly Wiggly, Harris Teeter (whose owner Kroger are in the middle of a merger with Albertsons), Whole Foods/amazon Fresh/Go and Kroger if not converted to former sister chains Winn-Dixie or Harveys (despite the pending sale).  My Google feed told me one location was picked up by a developer, but no further information was available.  At least someone got it, as it's frustrating to see a property with potential sit empty for too long, but these states probably don't have as much red tape as we do up north to say the least (you know how it is).