Food Lion's gourmet grocer targets techies

Store will anchor new center

The Triangle's already heated grocery store competition is about to get a new player.

Salisbury-based Food Lion is preparing to open its first Bloom grocery store in the Triangle in a new shopping center off Strickland Road in North Raleigh.

Bloom, which was introduced in 2004 in Charlotte, is designed to appeal to younger, technologically savvy shoppers.

Among its attractions are hand-held scanners that let you add up your grocery bill as you go and kiosks that not only help you quickly locate items but print out menu suggestions and recipes.

So why did it take so long to bring a Bloom to the techie Triangle?

Food Lion does a lot of market research before committing to build a Bloom, said spokeswoman Karen Peterson.

"There's a lot of different things that go into the site selection," she said. "Economic growth, population growth. We do research into what people are buying on everything from the types of magazines they read to the types of cars they buy."

So far, there are 61 stores in four states, and apparently not all are created equal. Some don't get the hand-held scanners. Raleigh, for instance, might not. The jury is still out.

Beyond technology, Bloom features wider aisles and lower shelves. And while they're similar in size to Food Lions, the selection is slightly larger. Bloom carries more than 30,000 items, about 2,000 more than a typical Food Lion, Peterson said. Bloom's groceries also tend toward the gourmet, such as aged balsamic vinegar and sugar cane.

The North Raleigh Bloom will anchor a center called Strickland Commons on the southeast corner of Strickland and Ray roads.

In addition to the grocery store, there will be 13,200 square feet of space for smaller retailers, restaurants or possibly office space, said Alan Marshall, the northern region vice president of leasing and sales for the project's Charlotte-based developer, JDH Capital.

"We have just recently started marketing the site," he said. "There are no leases signed."

Marshall said he hopes to break ground on the project late this year and have tenants opening by summer 2009.

When Bloom opens, it will add to an already crowded grocery store market. In the past few years, Kroger, Food Lion, Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods have been joined by several upscale gourmet markets including Earth Fare, The Fresh Market and -- most recently -- Trader Joe's.

With so many options, stores are trying more than ever to offer special services and features, said Lorrie Griffith, editor of The Shelby Report, a monthly grocery industry publication.

"That's been the perennial problem for grocers," she said. "Everybody sells Tide, and everybody sells Cheerios, so how are you going to set yourself apart to make yourself a part of the shopper's life?"

Bloom resonates with shoppers who have high disposable incomes and are comfortable with technology, Griffith added.

"It must be meeting some level of success for them, or they wouldn't continue to open the stores," she said.