NEWS - Retail & Shopping Centers

JDH Capital LLC is Developer

10/26/2009 - When Food Lion LLC. opened its newest 35,000-square-foot store on Oct. 14 at 2208 E. DeRenne Avenue and Skidaway Road in a new shopping center on Savannah’s east side – now called DeRenne Plaza by developer JDH Capital –  it was a positive lift for an aging neighborhood.

And it was another strategic move by Food Lion in the Savannah area. The DeRenne store is a new style prototypical store for Food Lion with 34,928 square feet.

Last year, Food Lion unveiled “fresh new stores in the Savannah,” and held grand re-openings at eight stores after undergoing renovations for a number of months,  according to Delony Spraggins, Food Lion’s director of Market Renewal and Prototype.

The newly redesigned stores now feature new meat, deli and produce department, an expanded wine selection, as well as Western Union and Coinstar services, Rug Doctor rentals and floral department. Several stores also feature a Nature’s Place organic and natural foods section, as well as expanded international offerings, he explained.

To be a good neighbor, the company gave the first 200 customers a bag of groceries in reusable grocery bags. According to store manager Candy Munn, customers were lined up as early at 7:00 a.m. to be the first.

She has plans to hire 53 employees in total, which is resulting in 35 new jobs in the area for the company – shifting some employees from other stores.  The company began hiring in late August to be ready for the opening. Staffing levels will fluctuate, based on the season, according to the company.

In 2008, Food Lion, was named Retailer of the Year by Grocery Headquarters magazine.

The eight remodeled stores in the greater Savannah area are:
• 100 Eisenhower Drive, Savannah
• 103-H General Screven Way, Hinesville
• 1017 East Highway 80, Suite 13, Pooler
• 10 Sams Point Road, Beaufort
• 8914 White Bluff Road, Savannah
• 591 South Columbia St., Rincon
• 1008 Fording Island Road, Bluffton
• 313 Laurel Bay Road, Beaufort
Food Lion is also seeking to close some stores, and is currently trying to sell its Garden City store on U.S. Highway 21, listed for $5 million.  The broker is Seabolt Brokers with Marjorie Gordon as the listing agent.

Food Lion LLC is a subsidiary of Brussels-based Delhaize Group (NYSE: DEG) and operates more than 1,300 supermarkets, either directly or through affiliated entities, under the names of Food Lion, Bloom, Bottom Dollar Food, Harveys and Reid’s.

Plaza’s Developer
JDP Capital LLC of Charlotte, N.C., is the developer of DeRenne Plaze and has completed a number of stores for Food Lion this year.  JDH owns, manages and leases properties throughout the Eastern United States, with a focus on open-air grocery and retail centers.

For DeRenne Plaza the property manager is Kelly Clark, and leasing manager is Andrew Bell.

There are more than 75,000 people within three miles of the new plaza, and seven Savannah schools as well as Savannah State University within three miles, as well.

No other tenants have been contracted, however, so far. The plaza has four storefronts built, with a total of 4,500 square feet,  and an outparcel on the corner of DeRenne Avenue and Skidaway Road designed for a bank, restaurant or drugstore use, according to JDH Capital.