Food Lion - Manassas, VA: Before the Remodel (Part 1)

Hello readers! Today on the Shoppes of Battery Mill, we will be delving into one of the East Coast's retail hallmarks - no, not the gift shop chain, rather one of their most signature grocery chains.

Food Lion - Manassas, VA (#1383)

Photo taken in 2018

Store info

• Address: 9121 Centreville Rd, Manassas, VA 20110
• Opening date: June 9, 1997 (original), April 29, 2012 (return to Food Lion)
• Remodels: Bloom (early 2007), 2020
• Features: Deli, Bakery, Beer, Wine, Food Lion to Go (new)

Opened during a time of rapid expansion for the chain in the Washington, D.C. metro area, this Food Lion stood as a characteristic example of their diverse location philosophy. This store serves the vicinity of Manassas' historic Old Town and other suburban areas within its radius, being a more densely populated yet convenient store to customers. As the city is competitive with additional grocery options, the store was converted to a Bloom in 2007 - something reflected across the D.C. area in general suburban areas. The concept faltered as it subtracted the classic Food Lion experience, prompting a return five years later in 2012. Interestingly however, the Bloom look remains - of which we shall explore today.

 Photos taken December 7, 2019

Today's store tour starts off at the left entrance. This window sticker, dating to the re-rebranding as Food Lion in 2012, lists a classic 7-11 operating time frame. Above we see an advertisement for Food Lion's new curbside pickup program (which we will discuss later).

We first visit the produce department.  The walls are accented with  Another variant of the Bloom package featured a green pattern with the Bloom "flower swirl" logo.

Just around the corner Out of place in a Food Lion? That might have been true when the store first opened, but it certainly hasn't since Bloom came to town. Said concept provided for a wide rollout of natural & organic foods, something that has been more uplifted in recent years.

A little treat for Valentine's, enjoy this floral cooler with a small array of colorful flowers!

Given the store's size, and Food Lion's general lack of service departments in exchange for convenience, their floral selections have never really expanded. Still something enough for whoever you may cherish, I bet.

Here's a side view of both the meat department's coolers and a variety of general grocery aisles. Fun fact - the aisle markers themselves were later additions to Bloom, the store originally featured such signage above endcaps.

The Bloom remodel positioned this department as a major perishable destination, adding an overhead lattice, wood tiles and fresh decor for the service counters themselves which were touted in commercials. Despite these additions, this store did not add counters for both, only adding a live lobster tank that was removed following Food Lion's return.

This edition of Aisle 12 is brought to you by pet products. Get a 13.2 oz can of Pedigree wet dog food for 68¢ when you shop at the Manassas Food Lion.

Chill out and grab a frozen meal within this aisle. While aisle markers are not featured here, various stands of products appear to go along with such freezing products. Coolers featuring beer (and beer accessories) greet customers at the edge of the salesfloor.

This photo serves as our introduction to the store's health and beauty department. Like many other Food Lions, this store does not have a pharmacy - such are only additions to select locations opened in the past 2 years. To compensate, FL offers several rows of HBC essentials, reflecting its convenient shopping motto. This new organizational method was introduced by Bloom featuring clear walkways and low shelves for easy access and view.

Featuring the rather infamous Papyrus font... we see an example of Bloom's health & beauty gooseneck signs. Not too shabby, eh?

Here we see an assortment of frozen products along with the famous Bloom symbol adorning the walls. The plastic liner above the coolers, helping to obscure the backlights, was removed early in the remodel process.

Next, we turn our attention to the prepared foods corner of the store. Service bakery and deli departmtents are surprisingly common within this somewhat barebones chain, and they are often filled with products from both departments at the counters. These functions are somewhat utilized amongst customers, however are not often high-volume. Food Lion has since added on to this function in newer stores with carryout pizza and chicken offerings.

This department also features a select amount of dairy products, evident by the coolers on the right side. The final portion prior to the bakery adds on frozen delicacies including ice cream cakes and the like.

The Bloom era brought more prepared food offerings to the table, adding coolers for to-go foods and a "TableTop" area featuring meals in the vein of rotiserrie chicken for quick shopping purposes. While the reintroduction of Food Lion at this site, a generic "quick & easy" wraparound has been placed, however the Bloom logo remains on the light underneath.

Rounding around the deli corner, we begin packing up our groceries and heading to checkout. As we stand in line, we can observe the various stands of discount product as well as deli assortments to go along with meals.

Adjacent to the store's right-hand entrance, a cartwell is at the ready for shoppers.

An interesting fact about this cartwell is that it actually opens up to the outdoors, leaving the right entrance without a vestibule. With that being said, I wonder if the carts are all nicely secured at night?

For me it's definitely an addition that confirmed Food Lion is here to stay in NoVA. I say this as I believe the chain has been in an odd place in this highly competititve region since around the mid-2000s. Expansion was eschewed for the Bloom and Bottom Dollar conversions, helping somewhat to boost the chain given the traditional concept did not sate the diverse shopping needs of area customers. The discontinuation of the Bloom brand several years later prompted closings, some of which were dispersed over the years, including the divestitures with the Ahold Delhaize merger.

With less of a margin to grow, there was thought that FL would be winding down their presence - that is, until Food Lion invested in this feature. I believe the stores will stay open as to my knowledge, the Haymarket, VA store, which closed in October 2019, did not feature such operations. This particular setup was installed over the previous summer and opened in September. Unlike several other curbside pickup options requiring the installation of mobile applications, Food Lion has simply chosen to provide customers a simple phone calling procedure in order to initiate the process.
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Surprisingly, since this photoset has been taken, Food Lion has finally initiated a remodel. This store has also been joined by a Woodbridge store and select Delmarva stores, some of the first new investments to these stores since the exit of Bloom and Bottom Dollar. We've yet to see if all of the region's stores (from Pennsylvania to Southern Maryland) will undergo such refurbishment - until then, I will have more photos coming up detailing this location's process. See ya then!