Weis Markets to Purchase 38 Food Lion Stores in Mid-Atlantic

SUNBURY, PA. — Weis Markets Inc., a Mid-Atlantic grocery retailer, has reached an agreement with Food Lion LLC to purchase 38 Food Lion supermarket locations in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware. The assets include 21 stores in Maryland, 13 in Virginia and four in Delaware. This transaction marks Weis Markets’ entry into Virginia and Delaware. Upon completion of the transaction and the purchase of five Mars Super Markets in Baltimore County, Weis will have increased its store count by 25 percent and will operate 202 stores in seven states — Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and West Virginia. Weis Markets will convert the 38 stores to its brand upon completion of the transaction. The portfolio sale is part of a previously announced merger agreement between Delhaize Group, a Belgian food retailer with a presence in seven countries on three continents, and Koninklijke Ahold, a Dutch food retailer whose grocery brands include Stop & Shop and GIANT. The international retailers have agreed for their U.S. subsidiaries to sell 86 of their stores to other food retailers such as Sunbury-based Weis Markets.