Retailer celebrates milestone with giveaways, discounts

SALISBURY, N.C. — Food Lion said it will celebrate its 60th anniversary Tuesday by offering its customers a chance to win gift cards or discounts on their purchases.

“It is an honor to celebrate 60 years of low prices, fresh products and community involvement with our company today,” said Food Lion President Meg Ham. “The reason Food Lion is still a proud partner in each of the towns and cities we serve is a strong testament to our loyal customers, who choose to shop with us, and to each of our associates, who take pride in serving them and showing them how much we care every day.”

The chain said four lucky shoppers at each of Food Lion’s more than 1,000 stores will instantly win a 60% discount on their purchase when they shop with their personal MVP loyalty card. The discount will be instantly deducted at checkout. And beginning at 1 p.m. and at the top of each subsequent hour, the first customer to correctly answer the trivia question announced in the store will win a $10 Food Lion gift card.

Food Lion says it will involve its store associates in the celebration. A time capsule ceremony, complete with mementos submitted by stores across its 10-state footprint, will be held at Food Lion’s corporate headquarters in Salisbury, N.C., at 11 a.m.

Food Lion said it has also celebrated its 60th anniversary with a number of charitable initiatives. As part of its “Great Pantry Makeover” campaign, for example, the retailer donated more than 2.5 million meals and 2,000 volunteer hours, remodeling and restocking 60 food pantries. In September Food Lion leaders and employees set a Guinness world record for the Most Bagged Lunches Assembled in One Hour. All of the 10,320 lunches assembled were donated to local schools and food banks in the Hot Springs, Va., market, where the event took place. And in October, the company held its inaugural 6K Lion’s Run which started and ended at the site of Food Lion Store 1 in its hometown of Salisbury, N.C. That event benefitted the Rowan Helping Ministries in Salisbury, N.C., and the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina in Charlotte, N.C., the company said.