SALISBURY, N.C. — Food Lion is moving ahead with its planned acquisition of 62 BI-LO/Harveys Supermarket stores from Southeastern Grocers. The deal has received early clearance from the waiting period imposes by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act of 1976, and Food Lion said Wednesday it is now recruiting employees for the stores.

“We are thrilled to move forward to add these new locations to our more than 630 existing stores across Georgia and the Carolinas,” said Food Lion President Meg Ham. “Nourishing our neighbors with fresh, quality products at affordable prices is core to everything we do. We look forward to opening these stores early next year and welcoming our neighbors in these towns and cities into their new Food Lion.”

Food Lion expects to hire more than 4,650 associates to serve customers at the 62 new stores.

The stores will remain open as BI-LO and Harveys Supermarket until the transaction is complete, which is expected to take place over a staggered period from January to April, 2021 pending customary closing requirements. Food Lion plans to operate all the stores under the Food Lion banner. Shoppers at the outlets will be able to take advantage of the retailer’s MVP loyalty program, its Shop & Earn personalized monthly rewards program and its mobile app.

And all stores in the Food Lion network are paired with a local feeding agency to receive donations through Food Lion’s retail food rescue program and support through its hunger-relief platform, Food Lion Feeds. Through its network of 30 food bank partners across its 10-state footprint, Food Lion ensures food that is unable to be sold in its stores but is perfectly safe to eat is donated to serve those in need. This year, based on unprecedented need caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Food Lion made its largest one-time hunger relief gift in the company’s history, donating more than $3.1 million to support its food bank partners and medical research. The company also made additional gifts this year for hunger relief, including donating more than 123 million meals through efforts including volunteerism, funding to support food bank transportation capacity, and funding to support new school distribution models to address child hunger.

“Caring for families and communities is who we are at Food Lion. We know that our neighbors are counting on us now more than ever and we are proud to stand beside our food bank partners, doing our part to bring meals and hope to families in need,” Ham said.

Food Lion will be served by ADUSA Distribution, LLC, through the acquisition of the Mauldin, S.C., distribution center. ADUSA Distribution expects to hire more than 800 associates to support Food Lion’s network of stores. The transaction is anticipated to be complete in the first half of 2021.