Lowes Foods is hosting its grand opening festivities at a new store at 17230 U.S. Hwy. 17 in Hampstead, N.C., today. This is the most recent Lowes Foods store to open in the Carolinas and the first in the Topsail area. The new Lowes Foods design is based on research that indicates consumers are always looking for more and better ways to save money, save time and support their communities, according to Lowes.
Grand opening events began at 7 a.m., though a reception and ribbon cutting ceremony was held Tuesday evening.
Lowes Foods features a number of signature products that are “the best of the best” in each department, including fried chicken, chicken grape salad, sweet tea, apple pie, pound cake, fresh ground sausage, fresh meat starter kits and more, the company says. These ready-made products help customers save time in the kitchen. Many products available in the store will be sourced locally, allowing a lower cost of distribution and fresher products for the customer while supporting other North Carolina-based businesses, according to Lowes.
The new store also will offer the exclusive Lowes Foods to Go personal shopping service to customers. Lowes Foods to Go shopping orders are placed either online or by telephone. The service is offered six days per week for a per-shop-fee of $4.95; discounted monthly and annual rates also are available.
Additionally, Lowes Foods offers Gas Rewards and NuVal nutritional scoring. Gas Rewards is a partnership with WilcoHess that allows customers to earn 5 cents off per gallon of gas for every $100 they spend in groceries at Lowes Foods. These discounts are available in Hampstead where the store features a fuel location. NuVal is a nutritional scoring system that rates foods from one to 100 based on their nutritional content. This number is displayed on the product’s shelf tag so that customers can tell the overall nutrition of an item at a glance.
Lowes Hampstead Store Manager Kirby Bolin has lived in the Pender County area for a number of years and says he excited about the opportunity for both he and his staff to serve the community.
Tuesday’s reception also served as the kick off to Lowes Foods 2013 Campaign to “Bag Childhood Hunger.” This annual food drive helps to feed Lowes’ neighbors in need right in the company’s local communities. A $1,000 product donation was presented to Livingstone Tabernacle Food Pantry, an affiliate of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina at Wilmington at the ceremony.
Lowe’s Food Stores Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alex Lee Inc. Founded in 1954, Lowe’s Food Stores employs nearly 9,000 people and operates 100 stores in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
