SALISBURY, N.C. — Discount grocer Bottom Dollar Food has officially opened the doors for its first stores in Ohio and metropolitan Pittsburgh.

Discount grocer Bottom Dollar Food has officially opened the doors for its first stores in Ohio and metropolitan Pittsburgh.

The Delhaize America chain late last month held grand openings for seven new stores in the Pittsburgh market and this week plans opening ceremonies for four more stores in greater Pittsburgh and three locations in Youngstown, Ohio.

Festivities at the initial Pittsburgh event included giveaways of private brand products and reusable bags, as well as guest appearances by former Pittsburgh Steelers football players Randy Grossman, L.C. Greenwood, Louis Lipps, Mike Merriweather, John Banaszak, Mike Wagner and Robin Cole, who signed autographs and greeted shoppers.

After the 14 grand openings, Bottom Dollar Food will have 43 stores in three states, including New Jersey. The chain, which opened its first Pennsylvania store in October 2010, said that besides its new stores in Pittsburgh and Youngstown, it’s focused on further expansion in the Philadelphia market, where it now has 29 stores (24 in Pennsylvania and five in New Jersey).

Last month Delhaize America announced plans to convert 22 Bottom Dollar locations (14 in Virginia, four in Maryland and four in North Carolina) to its core Food Lion banner as part of a brand repositioning and growth strategy. The company also is closing some underperforming Bottom Dollar stores, including five in Virginia and one in North Carolina. The stores being closed or converted are larger formats, and with those moves the chain is shifting to smaller outlets of about 18,000 square feet.

Bottom Dollar aims to open another 10 to 15 stores in its new markets by the year’s end, and Delhaize said that over the next five years it plans several hundred new Bottom Dollar units.