Food Lion parent to close 113 U.S. stores, including one in Cary

Delhaize Group, the Belgian conglomerate that owns Food Lion, announced today that it will close 113 underperforming stores in the U.S, including one in Cary.

The Cary Food Lion is the anchor in a retail plaza at 973 N. Harrison Ave.

Delhaize also operates Bloom and Bottom Dollar stores. All told, the company is closing 126 stores across its three brands.

It is also converting 64 Bloom and Bottom Dollar Food stores to Food Lion in the U.S. and retiring the Bloom brand.

Both Food Lion and Bottom Dollar are based in Salisbury, where Food Lion was founded. Delhaize operates thousands of supermarkets in the U.S., Europe and Indonesia.

The closings announced today are part of what Delhaize calls its "new game plan" to revive slumping sales.

The list of stores being closed include two other North Carolina stores: a Bottom Dollar Food in Mooresville and a Food Lion in Weaverville.

Delhaize Group CEO Pierre-Olivier Beckers said in a statement that the company was disappointed with its fourth quarter revenues in the U.S. and Belgium. U.S. revenues increased 1 percent compared to the same period a year ago and same-store sales declined .4 percent.

"We are encountering an increase in competitive activity," he said. "We are determined to improve our price competitiveness in 2012, particularly in the U.S. and Belgium."

Delhaize said in its earnings release today that the changes it made to its strategy in the Triangle and Chattanooga are showing good results, particularly in Raleigh, where customer visits and the number of items sold continue to outpace other Food Lion markets.

In May, the grocer cut prices on 6,000 items, reorganized shelves, added shopping carts, increased staffing and made efforts to improve customer service at its stores in the Triangle and Chattanooga.