is about the southeastern united states supermarket chain . for other uses see bi lo . bi lo type private industry grocery store founded 1961 headquarters jacksonville florida united states number of locations 180 area served georgia north carolina and south carolina key people ian mcleod president and ceo products bakery dairy deli frozen foods general grocery meat produce seafood snacks liquor owner southeastern grocers number of employees about 13 000 website bi lo.com bi lo is a supermarket chain owned by southeastern grocers . as of october 2015 the company operates 180 supermarkets under the bi lo brand in south carolina north carolina and georgia . 1 the bi lo headquarters were previously located in mauldin south carolina near greenville. ; 2 3 however they merged into southeastern grocers headquarters which is headquartered in jacksonville florida united states currently . contents 1 history 1.1 acquisition of winn dixie 2 references 3 external links history edit bi lo was founded in 1961 by frank l. outlaw . the original name was wrenn & outlaw . the company was officially named bi lo in 1963 after outlaw conducted an employee store naming contest to develop the brand . his secretary edna plumblee won the contest by submitting the name bi lo . bi lo was sold to ahold a dutch retail food conglomerate in 1977 . in 1994 ahold purchased red food stores inc. and merged its locations around 55 of them in georgia alabama and tennessee into bi lo the following year . 4 5 in 2001 ahold purchased the birmingham alabama based bruno s supermarkets chain and combined its operations with bi lo . in 1998 the company sponsored the construction of the bon secours wellness arena formerly the bi lo center in greenville south carolina . in june 2001 bi lo debuted their discount grocery format foodsmart in camden south carolina . a month later bi lo purchased eight harris teeter grocery stores in south carolina and converted those stores to either bi lo or the foodsmart formats . 6 in 2003 bi lo invested in redesigning its store layout to attract high end customers . the result was the new super bi lo concept of a larger store layout featuring a greater selection of healthier foods specialty foods and organic foods . since then the company has opened new super bi lo branded stores as well as remodeled older stores in affluent neighborhoods . 7 throughout late 2004 and 2005 the company gradually phased out its private label bi lo brand for its store products and replaced them with new packaging and a new name southern home . in 2005 ahold sold bi lo bruno s to lone star funds . 8 in order to concentrate on renovating older stores building new ones and investing in newer information technology the new owners sold off 104 bi lo foodsmart bruno s food fair and food world stores in areas where the chain did not have significant market penetration . they also sold off three bi lo bruno s distribution centers to grocery wholesaler c & s wholesale grocers who converted some of the stores to southern family markets . 9 10 included in the sell off were all stores in the knoxville tn area which nearly all were immediately occupied by food city stores . as of 2010 one location in the area has not been leased to any business in five years in part due to food city already owning a former winn dixie location just a short walk away . on march 21 2007 lone star funds announced that they were spinning off the 67 bruno s supermarkets and food world stores from bi lo llc into a separate company to be based out of birmingham . 11 on april 16 2007 lone star announced that they were putting the 230 store bi lo chain up for sale . soon after c & s announced that it was closing the chattanooga distribution center that served the bi los in the chattanooga area and portions of north georgia . 12 on march 23 2009 the company announced that it had filed chapter 11 bankruptcy and intends to use the court supervised process to address an upcoming debt maturity . the move was largely due to the current credit crisis . the company said to expect its stores and regular operations to continue to operate as usual during the process . the company secured a 100 million loan from ge capital in order to continue paying wages salaries benefits suppliers and vendors . 13 in october 2009 delhaize group headquartered in belgium and owner of competing chain food lion announced that it entered a preliminary non binding agreement to purchase 425 million worth of assets from the chain . 14 shortly after in november 2009 the company filed plans with the u.s. bankruptcy court to restructure with parent company lone star funds providing a 350 million cash infusion and delhaize group and food lion left out of the plans . lone star funds said that it was possible that bi lo could emerge from bankruptcy in the first quarter of 2010 . 15 on may 12 2010 the company officially emerged from bankruptcy protection under a plan approved by the u.s. bankruptcy court district of south carolina . 16 bi lo a supermarket news top 75 retailer for 2010 remains under ownership of lone star funds after restructuring . 17 18 bi lo was reportedly put up for sale in august 2010 ; kroger and publix were said to be interested in acquiring the chain 19 but they never developed anything from these rumors . in september 2013 bi lo agreed to buy 22 piggly wiggly stores in south carolina and georgia from piggly wiggly carolina . the following day bi lo agreed to sell seven bi lo locations in the charlotte north carolina region to publix . 20 21 in july 2015 southeastern grocers announced the sale of its 21 bi lo locations in the chattanooga market as well as eight bi lo locations in northern georgia to k va t food stores which would rebrand the stores under its food city banner . the two companies said that stores would begin transitioning august 30 and would be completed by october 5 2015 . southeastern grocers would likely use proceeds from the deal to reduce debt . this effectively ends bi los presence in the tennessee market . 22 acquisition of winn dixie edit on december 19 2011 it was announced that bi lo and winn dixie would merge to create an organization with some 690 grocery stores and 63 000 employees in eight states throughout the southeastern united states . 23 bi lo will purchase winn dixie for usd 530 million and operate winn dixie as a subsidiary with its stores maintaining the winn dixie name . it was later announced that the merged company would be based at winn dixie s former headquarters in jacksonville florida . 24 in early 2013 bi lo phased out its own private label soft drinks in its bi lo stores in favor of the chek brand used by winn dixie . references edit bi lo exec lower prices will attract more shoppers . the charlotte observer . october 28 2015 . retrieved october 29 2015 . contact us . bi lo . january 5 2006 . retrieved on october 5 2012 . shipping address bi lo llc 208 bi lo blvd. greenville sc 29607 zoning and parcels map . archive city of mauldin . retrieved on october 5 2012 . ahold to buy u.s. chain the new york times february 22 1994 ahold in u.s.a. accessed september 10 2006 harris teeter has left spartanburg goupstate.com july 7 2001 bi lo invests in redesign times free press january 25 2008 lone star funds agrees to buy bruno s from ahold birmingham business journal december 23 2004 bi lo closures described as strategy to rebuild grocery firm augusta chronicle dated may 5 2005 local bi lo store sold to c & s wholesale the dispatch.com dated may 5 2005 execs leave bi lo ; bruno s spun off chattanooga times free press march 21 2007 local bi lo warehouses closing the chattanoogan april 16 2007 bi lo files chapter 11 bankruptcy . supermarketnews.com . march 24 2009 . retrieved december 19 2011 . delhaize to buy 425m worth of assets from bi lo archived october 8 2009 at the wayback machine . bi lo plan excludes food lion deal . charlotte business journal . november 24 2009 . retrieved december 19 2011 . bi lo emerges from chapter 11 . supermarketnews.com . may 13 2010 . retrieved december 19 2011 . bi lo emerges from chapter 11 . supermarketnews.com . may 13 2010 . retrieved december 19 2011 . sn s top 75 retailers for 2010 . supermarketnews.com . december 15 2009 . retrieved december 19 2011 . bi lo on the block source supermarket news august 10 2010 piggly wiggly carolina sells 28 stores . supermarketnews.com . september 12 2013 . retrieved august 8 2015 . publix to buy seven bi lo stores in charlotte area . supermarketnews.com . september 13 2013 . retrieved august 8 2015 . k va t to buy convert bi lo in chattanooga . supermarketnews.com . july 23 2015 . retrieved july 29 2015 . bi lo and winn dixie agree to merge . bi lo . retrieved december 19 2011 . egan matt december 19 2011 . bi lo buys winn dixie for 530 million ; deal translates to 75 % premium . fox business . retrieved december 19 2011 . external links edit florida portal south carolina portal food portal companies portal bi lo official website v t e supermarket chains in the united states kroger baker s supermarkets city market dillons food stores food 4 less foods co. fred meyer fry s food & drug gerbes super markets harris teeter jay c king soopers kroger owen s pay less super markets qfc ralphs roundy s pick n save mariano s metro market copp s ruler foods scott s smith s albertsons acme markets albertsons amigos carrs haggen jewel osco lucky market street pavilions randalls safeway shaw s and star market super saver tom thumb united supermarkets vons supervalu county market cub farm fresh hornbacher s save a lot shop n save shoppers ahold delhaize food lion giant carlisle giant landover hannaford brothers company martin s food markets stop & shop southeastern grocers bi lo fresco y m s harveys supermarkets winn dixie wakefern pricerite shoprite the fresh grocer other national chains aldi iga lidl target walmart regional chains asian 99 ranch market great wall supermarket h mart hong kong supermarket island pacific supermarket marina food marukai corporation u.s.a. mitsuwa marketplace nijiya market seafood city shun fat supermarket uwajimaya hispanic bravo el ahorro supermarket fiesta foods fiesta mart la perla tapat a supermarkets m s club mi pueblo food center supermercados teloloapan vallarta supermarkets organic earth fare natural grocers trader joe s whole foods market wholesale bj s wholesale club costco sam s club conventional acme fresh market amigo andronico s balducci s bashas best yet market big y boyer s food markets inc. bristol farms brookshire brothers brookshire grocery company buehler food markets inc. c town supermarkets cash & carry central market d & w fresh market dave s markets dean & deluca demoulas market basket dierbergs markets dorothy lane market easy way store econofoods family fare fairway market fareway festival foods festival foods minnesota food giant food city foodarama foodland foodland hawaii foodtown pathmark gelson s gerland corporation giant eagle grand mart gristedes grocery outlet harmons harps food stores h e b heinen s fine foods highland park market homeland houchens hugo s hy vee ingles inserra supermarkets jerry s foods jungle jim s international market karns quality foods key food super fresh the food emporium king kullen kings super markets