JDH Capital : News
FOOD LION STORE ROARS INTO BUSINESS
20 Nov 2008
TROY ROBERTS
troberts@lakecityreporter.com
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Hundreds of customers braved freezing temperatures Wednesday morning to be part of the opening of the new Food Lion supermarket on the west side of Lake City.
Food Lion officials greeted customers who lined up ahead of the store’s grand opening celebration, offering free gift bags for the store’s first 200 customers and a chance for a month’s worth of free groceries. Customers were able to partake in samples of some of the grocery store’s offerings, as well as nibble at free donuts and coffee.
“The turnout is beyond our expectations,” said store manager Mike Williams. “We really appreciate the support that this community has given us.”
Mayor Stephen Witt cut the ceremonial ribbon and those who waited in line were entertained by band members from Columbia High School. Once inside the store, customers flocked to the low-priced specials for the day, including turkeys priced at $.39 cents per pound just in time for Thanksgiving.
The new 35,000-square-foot Food Lion supermarket, located in the JDH Capital-developed Heritage Oaks Shopping Center, replaces the 20-year-old store that was located in the old Kmart shopping center. That store closed in May.
This is one of the first major developments on the west side of town, furthering the thought that Lake City expansion will continue west of Interstate 75.
“I think the big thing is the residential growth has been strong out there,” said Jim Poole, executive director of the Lake City-Columbia County Chamber of Commerce. “This kind of pushes the commercial area into a whole new area, where previously everything has been targeted between (State Road) 247 and I-75. I think this will serve as a catalyst to see more retail development on the west side of
I-75. Getting the first one is the hard thing — once you get the first one, people no longer question whether it will be a good place for business or not.
“Once the ice is broken, then it changes the whole picture,” Poole said.
