BI-LO

BI-LO is the name of several different supermarket chains around the world:

See also

BI-LO (United States)

BI-LO is a supermarket chain owned by Southeastern Grocers which is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. As of October 2015, the company operates 182 supermarkets under the BI-LO brand in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. Previously the BI-LO headquarters were located in Mauldin, South Carolina, near Greenville.

History

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. In 2001, Ahold purchased the Birmingham, Alabama based Bruno's Supermarkets chain and combined its operations with BI-LO.

BI-LO (Australia)

BI-LO Supermarkets is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers (formerly Coles Group). Once a chain of 180 outlets, most BI-LO stores were re-branded as Coles Supermarkets during 2006 and 2007. In October 2008, Coles stated it was looking to create a new chain to replace the remaining BI-LO stores. At the end of December 2014, only 6 stores remained open.

History

BI-LO was established by John and David Weeks in Adelaide in 1979. The first stores opened at Stirling and Aldgate in South Australia's Adelaide Hills region after being converted from hardware outlets, followed by the acquisition of a third store at Murray Bridge. Coles Myer cited that by 1979, BI-LO was South Australia's cheapest grocer.

By 1987, BI-LO was operating 28 supermarkets in South Australia and generating one third of metropolitan Adelaide’s supermarket sales, when it was acquired by Coles Myer, which also purchased the 34-store Shoeys discount supermarket chain in New South Wales (subsequently renamed as BI-LO). BI-LO would later expand into Queensland and Victoria.