Food City builds new store in Oneonta

Food City broke ground July 23 on a new supermarket on Market Terrace in Oneonta, Alabama, marking the company’s latest expansion in the state. The 50,000-plus-square-foot store is expected to open next spring.

The location continues the Abingdon, Virginia-based grocer’s expansion in Alabama, where it has been building out the Huntsville market and moving into the Birmingham area through both new store construction and acquisitions.

The store will include an in-store bakery and deli with a hot food bar, café seating area with fireplace, fresh food bar with soups, salads and fruit, a hickory-wood smoker, cheese shop and fresh sushi. Full-service meat and seafood departments will offer Certified Angus Beef and in-house butchers cutting steaks and fresh meat to order.

Expanded grocery, frozen food and produce departments will carry specialty, gourmet and vegan items. A floral boutique staffed by a designer seven days a week will offer fresh-cut arrangements, bouquets and gift items.

Checkout will run through five traditional lanes and seven self-checkout stations, with curbside pickup and home delivery available for online orders. The site will also have a Food City Pharmacy, a Gas ‘n Go fuel center and a Starbucks café.

The store will incorporate energy-efficient glass cooler doors, all-LED lighting, motion sensors, upgraded refrigeration systems and efficient parking lot lighting.

For residents of Oneonta and Blount County, the new store means access to a wider range of products and services.

Steven C. Smith, Food City president and CEO, said, “We are excited to be joining the Oneonta retail community. We look forward to constructing a new state-of-the-art Food City to serve the residents of Oneonta and Blount County.”

K-VA-T Food Stores, Food City’s parent company, operates 163 retail outlets in southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, north Georgia and Alabama.

With its grand opening slated for next spring, the store is likely to become a popular destination for shoppers in the region, offering a loyalty program to its customers.