Bottom Dollar Grocers come to Pittsburgh (West Mifflin, Washington: house, neighborhoods, to buy)

[raubre]

Never heard of them, sounds liek another Save-alot

North Carolina grocery chain to enter Pittsburgh market

[greg42]

I've heard of it. Also heard this before that they're supposed to open here, although this is now much more official and with locations, etc. Basically it's a division of Food Lion (which, as stated, is a division of a Belgian company) but it's a limited assortment store. Think in terms of something like Aldi or Save-a-Lot, yeah, although I haven't ever actually seen a Bottom Dollar so I can't say exactly how it might differentiate itself.

[youngabe]

The one on Washington Avenue in Carnegie has been under construction for a while now. It's right next to the Little Caesar's and Family Video. Friends of mine live right behind the new store.

[fleetiebelle]

What a terrible name, though. It reminds me of "bottom of the barrel," "bottom of the food chain," etc.

[raubre]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

What a terrible name, though.

I know. It sounds like Family Dollar, Dollar Tree or Dollar General.

[hornet67]

Food Lion does not exactly have a stellar reputation. Our two sons both live outside of Charlotte and have a low opinion of them; they can't compare to Harris Teeter, which is a first class grocery chain.
Wasn't Food Lion notorious for adding color, etc. to meat that was past it's fresh date, if not going bad?

[jay5835]

WEHT the Aldi's that was supposed to open on Baum Blvd. in East Liberty? I go by there a couple of times a week, and it doesn't look as if one bit of work has been done.

[Caladium]

Are you guys getting Blooms, too?

We have Bottom Dollar down here. A few years ago, the Food Lion chain converted all their stores into either Bottom Dollar and Bloom. The stores in upscale neighborhoods and the areas that were growing in an upscale direction became Bloom. The stores in the lower economic areas became Bottom Dollar.

What's funny is that the two stores have become somewhat of a local code word, something to look for when scouting neighborhoods. If you're trying to buy a house and see a Bottom Dollar down the street, you know the area has some economic challenges. If you see a Bloom you know that the area is doing well, or (maybe even better) poised to be up and coming.

What's the difference between the two stores? Not much--mostly just the name on the front. Blooms are stocked with more produce--the produce in the Bottom Dollar stores is not as good and the produce section of the store is much smaller. Bloom sells a wide variety of fancy condiments (chutneys, 6 different kinds of horseradish, etc.) , Bottom Dollar sells a wide variety of processed snacks (Twinkies, Little Debbie, etc.). Other than that they're about the same.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Are you guys getting Blooms, too?

We have Bottom Dollar down here. A few years ago, the Food Lion chain converted all their stores into either Bottom Dollar and Bloom. The stores in upscale neighborhoods and the areas that were growing in an upscale direction became Bloom. The stores in the lower economic areas became Bottom Dollar.

We are not getting Bloom at present. It's an interesting idea, though. If Bottom Dollar is successful you might see these guys try to compete. Any additional competition would be good. There is in general so little competition in the grocery market here.

This conversion you speak of may have happened in your area but is not true chain-wide, or at least not complete yet. There remain plenty of plain old Food Lion stores at least in some places I can think of.

Bottom Dollar, at least in its current incarnation, is meant to be a sub-20k sq ft store. That is much smaller than a typical Food Lion so it would be odd to convert Food Lions to it unless they were also downsized at the same time. It's possible these conversions you're thinking of were earlier trials in a larger size though.

[mckeesport_alum]

Originally Posted by jay5835

WEHT the Aldi's that was supposed to open on Baum Blvd. in East Liberty? I go by there a couple of times a week, and it doesn't look as if one bit of work has been done.

I think they are in a little over their head. ALDI is popping up everywhere in the Pittsburgh area. The South Side location is supposed to open this fall...I'll believe it when I see it. I have to say, though, the location in West Mifflin was built incredibly fast.