BI-LO (United States)

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BI-LO was established in the United States in 1966 and is headquartered in Mauldin, South Carolina. It operates stores in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee.

Ahold owned the company from 1977 until 2005, when it was sold to Lone Star Funds^[1]. The new owners sold off approximately 100 BI-LO and Bruno's stores in areas where the chain did not have significant market penetration, most of which have become Southern Family Markets^[2]. C&S Wholesale Grocers is BI-LO's distribution company, due to the fact that BI-LO Holdings (the parent company of BI-LO supermarkets and Bruno's Supermarkets) sold its distribution centers in order to concentrate on renovating the older stores, building new ones, and investing in newer Information Technology. In 1998, the company sponsored the construction of the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, South Carolina.

In 1995, Ahold purchased Red Food Stores^[3] and its 55 locations in Georgia and Tennessee, which were merged into BI-LO^[4].

[edit] BI-LO Foods/Riverside

BI-LO also exists as a separate entity as part of the small Friedman's and Riverside Grocery Store chain with 43 locations in western Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh. The "BI-LO/Riverside" supermarkets trademark is owned by "The Penn Traffic Co."