2024 SE Lowes 70th Anniversary

The Shelby Report of the Southeast joins Lowes Foods in celebrating. . .

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Pursuit of innovation, next-level progress key to ‘very bright future’ Lowes Foods is celebrating 70 years in the grocery business this year. It began with a small grocery store in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, operated by Jim Lowe, who was part of the family that founded a separate business under the same name selling home improvement products.

The focus at Jim Lowe’s grocery store was on providing quality food to local shoppers, with extra care given to fresh produce and customer service.

The central goal has not changed over the decades – only the way Lowes Foods goes about achieving it.

More than a decade ago, Lowes Foods unveiled its first store bearing the company’s new logo and reimagined offerings, including even more local products and interactive experiences that are said to have made kids beg their parents to make a visit.

That pioneering spirit led The Shelby Report of the Southeast to celebrate Lowes Foods this month for 70 Years of Innovation.

wheels of cheese. In the bakery, L’Oven Cookies are sold in a box that looks like an oven.

Clever signage throughout the store is designed to add a touch of fun to what can be a mundane task, and limited time offers (LTOs) in the service departments encourage guests to try them while they’re available. It might be Nashville Hot Chicken in The Chicken Kitchen, Harvest Cookies or Sweet Potato Bread in the bakery, fruitcake-flavored sausage at SausageWorks or pumpkin-flavored drinks at Boxcar Coffee.

Creative concepts continue to be added That first reimagined store was in Clemmons, North Carolina, and since then, across the company’s footprint that now stretches from North Carolina to South Carolina and Georgia, there have been newly built or refreshed stores that feature unique departments known as Originals.

There’s The Chicken Kitchen with a talking chicken chandelier and chicken dance performances when fresh product is brought out; SausageWorks, offering an abundant selection of beef, pork and poultry variations overseen by the Sausage Professor; The Cakery, where cake wizards squarely do their magic; and The Community Table, where parties and other activities take place that are designed to make and strengthen connections. And those are just scratching the surface.

“It’s just this whole idea of having a little bit of fun and bringing some entertainment back into some great food experiences,” said Tim Lowe, president of Lowes Foods and head of retail for parent company Alex Lee Inc. “We’re on a journey to be an entertainment company that interfaces with people around great food experiences.”

It’s not innovation for innovation’s sake, though. According to Lowe, it must “be true to the spirit of what your brand is built on. Innovation has really been focused on going back to the fact that we have so many great stories to tell that we really want to make sure that we continue to lean into and have no best-kept secrets.”

Scattered throughout Lowes Foods stores are “Easter eggs” waiting to be discovered. In The Cheese Shop, the lights overhead cast a Swiss cheese shadow below and, more obviously, the supports for The Cheese Shop canopy look like

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Lowes Foods also utilizes innovative practices around its team members, who are called hosts (customers, as indicated earlier, are guests). When hiring, interviews can be more like auditions, with the entertainment emphasis on the sales floor. When a host is hired, their first day is “Signing Day.” “Signing Day is really about a celebration of the individual,” Lowe said. There may be a cake, a goodie bag or other surprise.

“Their first day of work in our stores, they can come in and get to know people around them, and they can feel great about the environment they’re going into.”

Technology often yields innovation, and Lowes Foods gauges its value by whether it removes friction for either hosts or guests. If it helps prospective hosts fill out employment forms more easily or allows a guest to clip a coupon electronically, the grocer is on board.

“We live in a right-now society, and we’ve got to make sure that we’re using innovation and technology to help us step up to that right-now expectation in everything from hiring to training to how we do price changes in the store or whatever else it may be,” Lowe said.

“We spend a whole lot of time and energy and effort around continuing to look at our internal mechanisms to say, how do we better deliver a quality experience, a more frictionless experience, without forcing things down their throat?”

As a grocery store, food and beverage naturally form the basis of Lowes Foods’ interaction with its communities.

Charitable giving is centered on helping the food insecure, and Lowes Foods favors “community activations” as opposed to sponsorships when it comes to supporting local sports teams and events.

With the Carolina Hurricanes ice hockey Please see page 24

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Company’s humble origins created foundation for today’s success Founding and early years (1954-1970s) Lowes Foods was founded in 1954 by Jim Lowe in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

It was initially started as a small grocery store to serve the local community.

Lowe was part of the Lowe family that founded the home improvement store Lowe’s, but the two businesses were separate ventures.

Lowes Foods started with a focus on providing quality food products to local communities, emphasizing fresh produce and customer service.

JC Faw was the first store manager, and it was not long before Jim Lowe sold the business to Faw. Under Faw’s leadership, the company expanded throughout Wilkesboro and the mountain regions of North Carolina.

By 1983, Lowes Foods had grown into a chain of 75 grocery stores and 25 convenience stores.

Acquisition by Alex Lee Inc. (1984) In 1984, Lowes Foods was acquired by MDI, a North Carolina-based wholesale distributor. In 1992, Alex Lee Inc. was created, with Lowes Foods and MDI becoming subsidiaries.

Under Alex Lee Inc.’s ownership, Lowes Foods continued to expand its footprint, particularly in rural and suburban areas of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

1980s-2000s: Innovation and store concepts After its acquisition by Alex Lee Inc., Lowes Foods embarked on a period of significant growth and innovation. Between 1986 and 1990, the company expanded by adding 19 new stores.

In 1994, Lowes Foods introduced the “FreshSmart” concept, emphasizing a comprehensive selection of highquality fresh foods, enhanced customer service and expedited checkout processes. This initiative aimed to create a more engaging and efficient shopping experience for customers.

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team, Lowes Foods takes its S’mores Wagon to the arena, setting up outside to offer free dessert to tailgaters. For Wake Forest football games or local brewfests, Lowes Foods has a branded barrel that uses the Beer Den name found in-store.

During the summer, Lowes Foods might take cut-up watermelon to a community swimming pool for all to enjoy. During the holidays, Lowes Foods team members might show up at a Christmas tree lot and hand out hot chocolate.

“Rather than just seeing a name on a sign, they’re actually interfacing with us, directly learning about us,” Lowe said.

Speaking of interfacing, when Lowes Foods opened its newest store in Concord, North Carolina, this summer, team members were dispatched into areas around the store, going door to door to hand out 1,000 “Lowes and Behold” boxes. The boxes were filled with a mix of free items, including some local products. A note from the store director inside invited them to visit the store.

“It wasn’t just a mailer they received, but they actually saw one of our folks in our Lowes’ shirt show up at their door and hand them a gift – basically saying, ‘We’re proud to be here and be a part of your community,’” Lowe said. “There’s a variety of different things we do to ‘activate,’ if you will, within the store as well as outside the store.”

Within the store, Lowes Foods wants to make sure customers have a multisensory experience, according to Kelly Dillon Davis, senior director of guest engagement and a 10-year company veteran who was one of Tim Lowe’s first hires when he took the helm.

“When you come in one of our stores, you’re going to smell things, hear things, see things, touch things, taste things. You’re going to use all your senses when you come in here… You need to experience it,” she said.

“We’re a produce stand, a deli, a bar, a restaurant, a brewery, a florist… We have things you can only get here, and we have people you’ll only see here.”

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The company continued its expansion by acquiring Byrd’s Food Stores in 1997 and 12 Hannaford Brothers stores in 2000, bringing the total number of Lowes Foods locations to more than 100.

In June 2012, Lowes Foods and Harris Teeter entered into a strategic agreement to exchange store locations in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Rebranding and modern era (2010s) In the 2010s, Lowes Foods underwent a major rebranding. The company introduced an updated logo and reimagined its stores with a stronger emphasis on local products, interactive experiences and farm-to-table offerings.

It also introduced new concepts in the Clemmons, North Carolina, store: Pick & Prep, The Chicken Kitchen, SausageWorks and The Beer Den. Lowes Foods also became well known for its focus on community involvement and supporting local farmers and vendors with the addition of The Community Table, where stores hold events.

In May 2014, Lowes Foods opened its first ground-up store with the new concepts in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

That year, the company also began remodeling locations in the Raleigh and Triad areas to include the new concepts.

The remodel of the store on Robinhood Road in Winston-Salem introduced two new concepts – The Cakery and Boxcar Coffee.

In 2016, Lowes Foods remodeled the site in Mooresville, North Carolina, and included four new concepts – The Smokehouse, Sammy’s, Cheese Shop and Divine Cut (dry aged beef).

Expansion in South Carolina (2016‑20) Lowes Foods operated stores in the Myrtle Beach area of South Carolina, but the company opened its first location in the Greenville area (Greer) in September 2016.

This marked the company’s initial foray into the Upstate market.

Please see page 26

Lowes Originals continue to be dreamed up by staff members. Knock Knock Spirits is a liquor store inside a Lowes Foods; three currently are open inside South Carolina locations, selling local, standard and high-end spirits.

The Spice Bazaar is where guests can find the spices they need for most any dish, and if they are concerned about using them up before their freshness fades, smaller packets are available.

Divine Cut is where Lowes Foods guests can find dry-aged beef like they might find in a fine steakhouse. And there is also Poppy Go Lucky, a popcorn concept.

It started as a mobile popcorn machine but is being tested in-store. Cheerwineflavored popcorn, anyone?

“We’re constantly looking for new innovations and how we can continue to be able to take what we have up to the next level,” Lowe said. “We are continuing to look to grow. We’re a company that sees a very, very bright future. I think there’s some good growth ahead for us.”

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In-store atmosphere offers sense of community, helps guests connect The Community Table is the heart of a Lowes Foods store. Constructed of reclaimed wood from local barns, the table is designed to bring the community together through events like food pairings, tea parties and floral arranging classes.

location; others are mainstays across the company, like Wine Down Wednesday (half-price Sunmill Wine pours 4-8 p.m.), Thirsty Thursday (half-price beer and wine pours 4-8 p.m.) and Friday Night Flights (halfprice flight pours on “tap takeover” brands).

Each store has a calendar of events designed to “grow community.”

Lowes Foods’ Sunmill Wines brand takes the spotlight on Wine Down Wednesdays.

Lowes Foods’ Community Tables are made with wood reclaimed from old barns. Due to their design, they’re sometimes referred to as “the table with a tail.”

Private events ranging from birthday parties for kids to beer and wine pairings for adults (Beer & Brats and Wine & Charcuterie Boards are a couple of options) also take place around the table.

There is a calendar of Community Table events in each Lowes Foods store. Some events vary by

Lowes Foods community and local marketing managers work with each store to create a calendar to fit guests’ needs and aspirations. Some areas have more children in the vicinity, so those stores have more kid-centric events. Others, like the one near UNC Wilmington, has more young adults, so events would reflect that difference.

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Today’s Lowes Foods

At the time of the opening, Lowes Foods announced plans to open stores in the Columbia and Charleston markets in 2017. In September 2020, Lowes Foods’ parent company, Alex Lee Inc., acquired several BI-LOs in the Charleston, Columbia and Greenville markets of South Carolina. Five were converted to Lowes Foods.

In total, there are now three Lowes Foods in the Upstate of South Carolina, five in the Midlands and four in the Lowcountry. The company has announced plans to open a new store in the Columbia market (Lexington) and Charleston market (Nexton) in the next few years.

In 2024, Lowes Foods closed its only store in Virginia (Stuart) and opened its first in Aiken, South Carolina, which also marked its entrance into the Augusta, Georgia, market.

The company also acquired Foothills IGA in Marble Hill, Georgia, and converted that into a Lowes Foods, which is the first one in Georgia.

Lowes Foods currently operates 82 stores in the Carolinas plus the Marble Hill site.

But stay tuned. According to President Tim Lowe, “We’ve announced a handful of stores that we’re in the process of building.”

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A Lowes Foods host and a Palmetto Cheese rep offer samples and merch to a guest.

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Kelly Davis, senior director of guest engagement for Lowes Foods, said the Community Table and all the events are all about connecting people, whether that’s guests or Lowes Foods’ team members.

President Tim Lowe “considers this the heart of the store,” Davis said. Twice a day, store staff – called hosts – have meetings around the table.

She said it’s not unusual when the store is crowded to see people who are in line at the Beer Den striking up conversations with people seated at the Community Table.

Lowe said the children’s birthday parties that take place around the Community Table are convenient for parents and fun for kids. Parents who reserve the table for a birthday party (they’re a sellout every year) get balloons, food (maybe a Pizzapalooza or panini party) and a gift for the child.

The kids take a tour around Lowes Foods to sample icing and blow out candles at The Cakery, push the button to help “make” the sausage at SausageWorks, pet the lobsters in the tank in the seafood department and maybe see the chicken dance at The Chicken Kitchen.

Parents, who know their kids are in a safe environment, can relax with a drink and maybe even do their grocery shopping while their child enjoys the party.

SausageWorks If you take Willy Wonka and mix him with Doc

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from “Back to the Future,” you might get the Sausage Professor, a white-coated character whose role is to promote SausageWorks’ sausage creations, offer cooking suggestions, entertain guests and “steal” business from The Chicken Kitchen (or at least its rubbery mascot).

SausageWorks, an offshoot of the Lowes Foods meat department, features a range of more Pretending to than 60 pork, beef and poultry squirt mustard on sausages, with flavors stretching customers is part from familiar to not-so-familiar. of the Sausage “The Star Spangler is like Professor role.

eating a cheeseburger… We have the Trusty Farmer, which is a kind of mild pork sausage. Then we have the Farmer’s Daughter, which is just like the Trusty

SausageWorks sausage are available in the case or packaged for customers to grab and go.

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To go along with the mechanical theme of the sign, SausageWorks’ promoted sausages are called the “Featured Experiment.”

Farmer, only hotter,” Davis said.

There’s also The Cheesapeño (cheddar cheese, jalapeño and beef and pork sausage), The Grill Master (caramelized onions, garlic, black pepper and beef and pork sausage), The Pig Kahuna (teriyaki, pineapple, soy sauce, brown sugar and pork sausage), The Godfather (fennel, anise and Italian pork sausage), The Greek God (oregano, basil, garlic, rosemary and pork sausage), The Firecracker (pork sausage with roasted habanero), The Sergeant Pepperoni and Cheese (pizza seasonings and mozzarella in pork Please see page 28

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The Chicken Kitchen

sausage) and more.

Lowes Foods hosts submit names for the sausages, and the winning name is selected from their ideas.

A pumpkin-, fruitcake- or champagne-flavored sausage might be featured, depending on time of year.

Lowe said one of his favorites is The Kentucky Gentlemen, a sweet tea bourbon pork sausage created in the spirit of the Kentucky Derby. The Margarita honors Cinco de Mayo. “There is actually a ritual you can do with it, where you dip it in salt and do it just like you would a margarita,” he said.

There’s a full line of mustards to go with the sausages, Davis noted, and to engage the kids, there’s a button they can push to “make” the sausage. A Rube Goldberg-inspired machine overhead spins and clicks once they’ve pushed the button. Kids also can be sworn into the ISLOP Club – International Sausage Lovers of the Piedmont – on the promise to eat SausageWorks sausages.

In the stores where there is not a SausageWorks service case, customers can pick them up prepackaged.

“That way, we can have it in every store,” Lowe said. “Whether you have an actual SausageWorks environment or not, you’re able to go through and still enjoy the same great quality products.”

The Chicken Kitchen is the place to find all things chicken – rotisserie chicken, fried chicken, chicken wings, chicken pot pies, chicken tenders, chicken salad and Cock-a-Doodle Noodle soup. The chicken is fresh and never frozen, locally sourced and raised with no antibiotics.

The Smokehouse The Smokehouse offers a daily rotation of woodsmoked meats – including beef, pork, chicken and salmon – using a variety of woods to infuse flavor.

Shoppers can pick them up ready to eat or ready to take home and heat. The pitmaster also whips up a smoked meatloaf, adding a new dimension to the perennial favorite.

Popular days at The Smokehouse are Wing Wednesday and Rib Friday. On Wednesdays, wings are 44 cents each, and on Fridays, a half-rack of ribs is $5.

“Wing Wednesday and Rib Friday are kind of throwbacks to the past of merchandising items on a specific day,” said Lowe, adding that the promotions are a way to get people excited about things that aren’t necessarily new, just marketed and promoted differently.

The Cakery has cake wizards (see the wand?) that serve icing samples and guide kids to blow out candles that magically reignite.

The animatronic chicken chandelier sounds off to let customers know fresh rotisserie chickens are available, and to kick off the chicken dance, which involves clucking and shaking one’s tail feathers.

When hot chicken comes out of the rotisserie oven, the animated chicken chandelier signals shoppers to come and get it. The chicken then calls out the moves for the chicken dance, which involves hosts and possibly Lowes Foods guests flapping their wings and shaking their tail feathers.

The chicken dance actually came out of an overnight meeting of store managers. They were brainstorming ways to convey that Lowes Foods has the best chicken in town, according to Lowe.

So between the crowing chandelier and the chicken dance, “people are going to take recognition and come over and say, ‘what’s going on?’ And then we can tell our story,” he said. “We can tell about our birds being larger than our competitors’ birds. We can talk about the taste and the quality of our birds.

We can talk about our local breading that we use for our fried chicken.

“The reality is that people are looking for an authentic connection. They’re also looking for entertainment. You know, that’s important to consumers; that’s why they constantly stay on the small screens in front of them. Wherever they are, they’re looking for that entertainment element as well.”

So, they changed course and decided to name it The Cakery.

But how could they really stand out?

Go square.

The cakes can be purchased whole, or customers can mix and match cut cake squares to bring home everybody’s favorite.

To draw the kids, The Cakery offers icing samples, all made with real ingredients like cream, butter and cream cheese. The samples are placed on square forks. When they’re done, kids drop the forks in a special bin and make a wish.

There’s also a cake where kids can blow out the candles, and the “cake wizards” who staff the department have a remote that cause the candles to spark to life again.

Daily cake walks also take place in The Cakery.

Kids are invited to the department to walk around on specially designed square floor tiles while a song – exclusively written for Lowes Foods – plays. When the music stops, the one on the winning tile gets a prize.

The Cakery also features L’Oven Cookies. The cookies first were baked in Lowes Foods’ Chapel Hill, North Carolina, store.

Please see page 30

The Cakery Lowes Foods makes great muffins, and when the company was reimagining its different departments, the initial thought was they should build the bakery around muffins. But after seeking input from customers, “we heard loud and clear that everybody loved our cakes,” Davis said.

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From page 28

Lowe, calling it a “phenomenal” cookie, said the decision was made to create a whole brand around it.

L’Oven Cookies was born. The counter where they’re sold features oven doors underneath, and the packaging itself looks like a little oven.

“It’s grown from just a single item in a single store to now it’s one of our best-selling cookies across the organization, and we continue to bring in new flavor profiles, like we just launched our Harvest flavor for the fall time frame,” he said.

The Beer Den According to Lowes Foods, The Beer Den “offers the finest selection of crafts and drafts that is fantastically varied and local.”

ounces; a crowler is a container such as an aluminum can that holds 32 ounces, or two pints.)

There are seasonal beer offerings, special events and tap takeovers. On Thursdays, Lowes Foods offers half-price pints; on Fridays, there are Friday Night Flights at a special price.

There are no TVs in The Beer Den. “We want people to gather around the table, to come in and have conversations,” Davis said.

In addition to its proprietary beers under The Beer Den name (it also has its own brewery in Greenville, South Carolina – The Cavern at Lowes Foods of Five Forks), Lowes Foods partners with local breweries to get their brands the recognition they need.

Lowes Foods’ Collabeeration series highlights local brewers’ dark beers with a twist. Examples include the Mallard Duck, a peach cobbler milkshake ale from Hazelwood Brewing Co. in Columbia, South Carolina, and Gray Squirrel, a nut brown ale from Incendiary Brewing Co. from North Carolina’s Triad area.

But if a half-cup of diced celery is all that’s needed for a recipe and the rest will go to waste, the customer just fills out a form and a produce “butcher” will get to work.

In fact, the butcher will slice, dice, mince, julienne or cube any fruit or vegetable while the customer shops.

The idea for Pick & Prep came from knowing that many of today’s consumers still want to make meals at home but don’t always have the time or desire to do the prep work, according to Lowe.

A guest can make a quick meal with fresh salsa and guacamole from Pick & Prep, salad from the produce department and meat from The Smokehouse, if they so choose. But they can also just get all the ingredients at Lowes Foods and pull it together at home.

Why does the bear in the logo have horns? If you cross a bear and a deer, you get a beer.

Shoppers are invited to “sip-n-shop” – buy a glass of beer to drink as they shop – which is made easier with cupholders built into the shopping cart. Or they can get food from Sammy’s or Smokehouse or Chicken Kitchen, have a beer and then have their second (and final) beer while they shop.

“At the end of the day, we’re a grocery store, but it’s a place you can come in, have a beer, get something to eat, do your grocery shopping with a second beer,” Davis said.

If guests want to take home a beer from the tap, they can have a growler or crowler filled. (A growler is a glass container that typically contains 32 or 64

Lowes Foods’ own Beer Den beers are made from proprietary recipes.

“We’re going to serve local craft beer that you can’t buy anywhere else,” she said.

And Lowes Foods is the official grocer of North Carolina craft beer, as the only grocery member of the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild.

To encourage guests to try different beers to find what they like, Lowes Foods offers a mix-and-match six-pack.

Other weekly promotions include Wine Down Wednesday, featuring half-price wine pours; halfprice growlers on Saturday; and half-price mimosas on Sundays.

After Hurricane Helene ravaged towns in western North Carolina this fall – impacting several Lowes Foods stores – the grocer is participating in the “Pouring for Neighbors” fundraiser sponsored by the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild. Breweries and companies nationwide designated a beer that they would donate the proceeds from to support relief efforts.

At Lowes Foods, for every pour of its featured craft beer on tap at The Beer Den, the grocer is donating $1.

Pick & Prep The Pick & Prep department in Lowes Foods offers packaged, grab-and-go fruits and vegetables that are cut fresh throughout the day.

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An “extension” of Pick & Prep, Tomato Alley allows the shopper to pick and choose the tomato needed for a salad or other recipe without having the buy the whole clamshell.

“The question is, ‘How can we help you?’ We’re not going to tell you how to save time, but instead give you a menu of options so that you choose how to spend your time. We’re just here to make it easier for you,” Lowe said. “Use us however you choose.”

As with Pick & Prep, guests can buy just the amount of fresh herbs they need at the clip-yourown table; at the Tomato Bar, they can get the mix of tomatoes they want or need for any meal or recipe.

Local is important in the Lowes Foods produce department. Anywhere from 10 percent to 40 percent (depending on season) of items in the produce department are locally sourced.

“For us, it’s about developing those relationships, keeping those tight connections and being able to be authentic to who we are. It’s not just a slogan or a sign we hung up in a store, but again, really, really cling to our roots, if you will,” said Lowe, adding that Lowes has partnered with more than 300 local farmers over the years as they have transitioned from tobacco farming to crop farming.

Lowes Foods has offered insights on how to sell

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their new crops into the grocery industry.

“We know if it’s right for the community that it’s right for us, because if our community is healthy and growing, then we’re healthy and growing,” Lowe said.

The Boxcar Coffee Co. In the Lowes Foods locations that feature a Boxcar Coffee Co. counter, guests can get a cup of coffee or smoothie (for themselves or their kids) to sip while they shop. Limited-time seasonal offers allow for innovation for Lowes Foods and anticipation for guests. This fall, pumpkin caramel cold brew was available as an LTO.

The coffee beans for Boxcar are roasted locally for freshness and quality. On Fridays, guests get a special deal on beans – $7 a pound.

In stores without a Boxcar Coffee Co. counter, guests can buy bagged whole beans on the coffee aisle. There are six varieties, among them Boxcar Blend, Jamaican Me Crazy

and Colombian Del Patron.

In stores that do have a designated Boxcar Coffee, the railroad theme carries throughout. The ordering counter is called Arrivals, and the sizes are aptly named Short Line, Main Station and Long Haul. A new line of grab-and-go beverages are sold under the Express Train name. The line includes cold brew, latte, lemonade and shaken tea.

Replicas of photos of the last passenger train that went from Winston-Salem to Wilkesboro, found at the Forsyth County Library, add to the ambience, as does the caboose-red sign on corrugated metal.

a Toaster (an open-faced sandwich) or Breakfast Sammich. These can be custom-made using Boar’s Head products, a Smokehouse item and/or vegetables from Pick & Prep, but there also are options in the case for those who need to grab and go.

A variety of cold drinks are available in a case in front of Sammy’s, and there is seating for those who would like to dine in.

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Floral Lowes Foods offers bountiful “greenhouses” staffed by trained florists, where guests can find fresh flowers (stems or bouquets), plants, balloons and a variety of gift options.

Davis explained the concept behind Sammy’s selections: “Sammy is a world traveler. He goes to Pick & Prep and gets all the sandwich extras. He might get some guacamole. He might get some other fun stuff to put on there. He goes to Bread Crumb to get his bread. He goes to Chicken Kitchen to get chicken. He goes to SausageWorks, and he goes to Smokehouse to get sandwich fillings, too.”

Bread Crumb Store-baked bread is available every day at Bread Crumb. It might be baguettes, rolls, bagels or, if it’s Focaccia Friday, the Italian bread in a variety of flavors for $2.99 a loaf.

The focaccias tend to sell out every week, whether it’s black olive, tomato or a fruit variety – the latter of which makes a “decadent grilled cheese,” Davis said.

Seasonal breads appear during the year, including a sweet potato bread for fall.

When bread comes out of the oven, a Bread Crumb host will ring the bell, and a cry of “hot, fresh bread” rings out across the store. The scent of baking bread permeates the store.

Cheese Shop The Cheese Shop features a broad range of cheeses, from traditional varieties to rare finds. It also draws guest attention with its cheese wheel supports and Swiss cheese lighting.

Complementary items line the outside of The Cheese Shop, including bread, wines, oils, crackers and other charcuterie board elements.

Sammy’s Sandwiches At the Sammy’s Sandwiches counter in Lowes Foods, guests can grab items like sandwiches, pizzas, paninis and salads (Garden Bowls) for lunch or dinner.

They also can start their day with a Breakfast Garden Bowl,

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