Salisbury - a city of Millionaires

[Chris7]

The story of how many early stock purchasers of Food Lion became Millionaires.

https://www.ourstate.com/city-portrait-salisbury/

What I found a bit sad, was many didn't know what they had and so were really unable make a decision for themselves about what to do with their wealth. Many donated back to the community and that is great, but if they had known younger, could they maybe have enjoyed a bit of it, too.

Thoughts?
c7 :O)

PS - The story came to me from my email subscription to the Oblivious Investor. Not sure if it is okay to give them a link or not, but at least wanted to give them a shout out.

 

[ponyboy]

Weis now owns food lion. Weis is from my hometown.

 

[harley]

I just got back a week or so ago from a visit to Salisbury for my aunt's 89th birthday. While I was there I went with my cousin to the YMCA. He works there in the mornings, mostly for the free swimming and weight room privilages. What an incredible Y! Nicest one I've ever been in. And all paid for by Cheerwine, the family owned red soda company that started out in Salisbury back in the early 1900s. They're famous for giving back to the community. Definitely a lucky city.

I used to love that stuff. Too bad the diet version tastes so weak. Also makes a great base for barbecue sauce.

 

[Nemo2]

Neat story....(when I first saw the thread title I thought "It's been Harare since 1982" )....I guess Concord is the closest I've been to the town...wish I'd known then what I know now...we'd've dropped in there.

 

[travelover]

Weis now owns food lion. Weis is from my hometown.

Madonna is from my home town, but we are not good friends.

 

[jazz4cash]

Weis now owns food lion. Weis is from my hometown.

I can't find any connection. Delhaze America owns Food Lion and merged with Ahold which bought several grocery chains like Giant Eagle and Martins. Interesting how the Dutch are so prominent in US grocery business. Think Trader Joe's and Aldi.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[jazz4cash]

I can't find any connection. Delhaze America owns Food Lion and merged with Ahold which bought several grocery chains like Giant Eagle and Martins. Interesting how the Dutch are so prominent in US grocery business. Think Trader Joe's and Aldi.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

Edit: I did find the connection and you are correct. Delhaze had to divest the Food Lion chain to Weiss to gain approval for the merger with Ahold.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[FUEGO]

Very interesting. I knew Food Lion started in Salisbury but never considered that much of the FL wealth stayed in the town. I grew up in NC and have lived here all my life, so of course find myself shopping at Food Lion all the time (it's considered a low to middle quality grocery store, eschewed by the masses of Whole Foods riche-wannabes, but in reality they sell many of the exact same products from the same wholesalers as the other mid to high end grocers (perhaps not including Whole Foods)).

There's one a five minute walk from my house so we go there often if we just need to grab a few things or they have a good sale. Produce and fresh meats are typically fresh and well stocked and we can leave the car at home in the driveway and enjoy a nice walk.

 

[MRG]

Weis now owns food lion. Weis is from my hometown.

I grew up just North of there. Last time I drove through there was in the middle of Hurricane Irene. Hope nothing like that happens anytime soon.

 

[audreyh1]

Kind of like Omaha NB and Buffett?

 

[Huston55]

What a cool story. Just so happens I'm currently right down the road from Salisbury, in Concord, NC. DW & I are visiting her family in Concord & Kannapolis.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Interesting article. The only Salisbury I know is in Maryland--I figured that wasn't it but didn't discover this one is in North Carolina until the last paragraph. Lucky investors!

 

[audreyh1]

Me neither!!! I thought they were talking about England!!!

 

[Nemo2]

Me neither!!! I thought they were talking about England!!!

So we've gone from Rhodesia to Maryland to England.....Dr. Salisbury certainly covered some ground.

 

[MRG]

Me neither!!! I thought they were talking about England!!!

I thought they were talking about Uriah Heep. Maybe UH were writing about Salisbury in England.

https://youtu.be/QQBSeclvMV8

 

[jazz4cash]

When Food Lion entered the DC market they made some missteps and still seem to be unloved. They have a discount version called Bottom Dollar and an upscale brand called Bloom. A nearby location was rebranded as Bottom Dollar while a fancy new Bloom store was built up the road which alienated many shoppers. After a few months they remodeled the Bottom Dollar store and it went back to being a Food Lion.

When I was growing up we only had two grocery chains that dominated the market. Now we have at least 10.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[FUEGO]

I thought they meant Salisbury steaks. Man those things are good. You buy em at food lion. 2 for $1 when they are on sale. I'm not sure it's real meat but when heavily salted it tastes pretty good.

 

[Nemo2]

I thought they meant Salisbury steaks. Man those things are good. You buy em at food lion. 2 for $1 when they are on sale. I'm not sure it's real meat but when heavily salted it tastes pretty good.

Salisbury Steak: Civil War Health Food | Arts & Culture | Smithsonian

 

[Bigdawg]

I visited my local FoodLion last week about one hour before it was closing (for good). Today it opened as a Weis. Maybe I'll stop in there tomorrow.

 

[Bamaman]

I thought this was a post about how many wealthy people there are in Salisbury, NC. Not the current state of a grocery chain.

You ought to see how many very wealthy people there are in Arkansas and Memphis that were early investors of Walmart. Some made very meager investments that have compounded into fortunes.