Food City plans to construct a new supermarket in Etowah, Tennessee, as it replaces its existing location on the same site.
Located on U.S. Highway 411 North, the new supermarket will be 41,100 square feet in size.
"The residents of Etowah have certainly been supportive of our company and we look forward to providing our valued customers with a new, larger, state-of-the-art Food City to replace the existing, outdated location," said Steven C. Smith, Food City president and chief executive officer.
The company plans to temporarily close the Etowah store on Jan. 8, 2020, to make way for new store construction.
"As you can imagine, closing the store, even temporarily was an extremely difficult decision for our company," said Smith. "Unfortunately, it was the only viable option that would allow us to safely construct a new, larger, up-to-date facility on the same site. Rest assured that we will utilize every resource at our disposal to erect the new store in the quickest, safest manner possible, to minimize shopping interruption and inconvenience to our customers."
The surrounding Food City locations will welcome Etowah customers during the temporary closing, according to the company. For added convenience, the Etowah pharmacy prescription files will be transferred to the Athens, Tennessee, Food City pharmacy. But, the Etowah pharmacy customers may fill their prescriptions at any Food City pharmacy without interruption.
The Etowah store associates will be temporarily transferred to area Food City locations as well.
"I'm very excited about the new store and the additional services it will provide our customers," said District Manager Barry Brogan. "Our store planning and development team does an excellent job and I'm confident they will get us up and going as quickly as possible. In the meantime, our management team will be working between the other area Food City locations, checking on our customers and associates."
The new location is expected to be complete by late summer 2020 and will include an in-store bakery/deli with a food bar, large café seating area and pizzeria, the company said. Full service meat and seafood departments will offer pre-marinated and seasoned oven-ready products and a complete selection of top quality meats that are all-natural with no solutions added, including Certified Angus Beef and fresh sushi. In-house meat cutters will hand cut steaks and fresh meat to order. Expanded grocery, frozen food and produce departments will go well beyond the normal fare with a large selection of gourmet, international and specialty items, said the company.