<p>The parent company of Bi-Lo groceries says it plans to sell or close 116 stores throughout the Southeast, including some in Georgia, and bolster services in South Carolina as part of a long-range strategy to improve operations.</p><p>Bi-Lo LLC is the parent company of the Bi-Lo and Bruno's grocery store chains.</p><p>No Bi-Lo stores will be closed in South Carolina, where Bi-Lo has been locked in a fierce battle for market share with Wal-Mart, Food Lion, Publix and other supermarket retailers.</p><p>Instead, officials with the Mauldin-based firm said Tuesday it intends to invest significantly to compete in the South Carolina's Upstate region, with new superstores, remodeled stores and revamped operations with a greater array of product offerings, said Dean Cohagan, president and chief executive officer of Bi-Lo and Bruno's.</p><p>"What this is about rebuilding our company into a very agile, fast-growing Southeastern supermarket chain," Cohagan said in an interview with The Greenville News.</p><p>The divestiture of the stores will leave the company with 310 Bi-Lo, Bruno's, Food World and Foodmax stores and 24,750 employees, Cohagan said. Bi-Lo still will have 135 stores and nearly 10,800 workers in South Carolina, including 2,857 employees and 24 stores in Greenville County.</p><p>"Greenville is our hub. We enjoy a very good market share here," Cohagan said. "We have customers who have been very supportive over a number of years. We plan on growing in this market."</p><p>Bi-Lo will concentrate its efforts and financial resources, including capital spending, on a group of more than 300 stores across the Southeast.</p><p>"By redirecting our focus on those stores in those markets where we have the greatest opportunity, it's going to help us for the long term, which is going to be beneficial for the business," said Rob Mould, Bi-Lo's director of grocery marketing. "But more importantly, it's going to be beneficial for the people because it ensures long-term jobs for those individuals."</p><p>The 113 stores to be sold include 47 Bi-Lo stores in North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee and 66 FoodSmart, Bruno's, Bruno's Wine & Spirits, Food Fair and Food World, Food World Liquor and Foodmax stores in North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Mississippi.</p><p>For Bi-Lo, the decision to reduce its size and concentrate on areas where it ranks first or second in market share was one of rebuilding the company, Cohagan said.</p><p>According to The Shelby Report, a trade publication, Bi-Lo was the second largest supermarket retailer in South Carolina with 19.13 percent of the market. It trailed Wal-Mart, which had 45 stores and 26.86 percent of the market. Food Lion was third with a 12.45 market share.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cdcff0)</p>
