By David Rogers. BLOWING ROCK, N.C. — When a business grosses about $300,000 in sales each week and is an iconic social hub equaled only by the post office, the store getting a major makeover is a big deal.
Blowing Rock’s Food Lion supermarket is one of more than 1,100 store locations in 10 Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S. States and one of the 153 locations in the supermarket chain that recently completed extensive renovations in the Central Division (Charlotte area, generally), all of which celebrated with ribbon cuttings on Nov. 5.
Based on customer feedback, explained Lisa Maultsby, the Blowing Rock store manager, all of the renovated Food Lion locations’ modernization steps include self-checkout lanes, while providing customers the choice of traditional checkout options, with cashiers.
“We are excited to offer our customers a fresh new look, new products, including ‘food on the go’,” said Maultsby. “At checkout, we offer fast and friendly options.”
Maultsby, it turns out, is a “Horatio Alger” story, with the “pulling yourself up your bootstraps” pedigree that goes with that iconic literary author who wrote rags-to-riches stories for young adults in the mid- to late-1800s. His unflaggingly positive work helped cement the modern vision of what is widely known as “The American Dream,” where working hard while starting at the proverbial bottom can lead to great things.
The former Food Lion associate at both Lenoir and Boone locations shared that in a first professional career she was in manufacturing until 2006, when she elected to stay home with her children. Later, she decided to go back out into the workforce.
“I decided to try Food Lion and to do it just for a little bit until something else comes along — but I loved working for Food Lion. I started out as a cashier and worked my way up through the ranks, from cashier to office work, assistant manager and then store manager. After they advertised the Blowing Rock manager position, I was really grateful for this opportunity,” said Maultsby. “I was in the Lenoir store for four months, then was in Boone for five and a half years. I love the mountains and I particularly love Blowing Rock. It is friendly and has a hometown feel. I have always enjoyed coming to Blowing Rock on my personal time, so when the store manager position became available I was excited they let me have it.”
Maultsby claims she didn’t have to pay anyone for the coveted Blowing Rock assignment.
“I didn’t, I promise!” she said, smiling. “I was supposed to go back to the Boone store but when this opening came up I threw my name in there and they gave it to me.”
When asked, Maultsby reported that since she took over in May the store has averaged about $300,000 per week. She added that the sales volume has trended higher in recent years, partly because of inflation but primarily in terms of unit sales.
“We work hard to keep our prices low,” said Maultsby, before adding an observation about the renovations’ impact on sales.
“One of the things I have noticed since the renovation is that our deli department has seen double-digit increases over last year’s sales,” she said. “A lot depends the number of tourists in town, of course, and those weeks can be up and down, but we have seen several weeks where those comparisons are well up into double-digits.”
The Blowing Rock store employs 65 people, including the manager. Over the years, the store and its team have worked hard to go beyond their daily business routines and become a part of the community they serve.
“On a daily basis, we support the food banks, including Casting Bread, the Hospitality House and Hunger & Health Coalition. Last year, from just this store we donated 62,000 meals to the community, which translates into about 75,000 pounds of food,” she said. “We also volunteer. Our store managers and assistant managers volunteer at local food banks and even off the mountain. I worked at Hunger & Health two weeks ago and it is just amazing to see what they are able to do with the food we have donated. Laura, at Hunger & Health Coalition, comes up with some wonderful meals for people who need food. I was honored to help her prepare some of that.”
Food Lion was also very involved with recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene, Maultsby said.A
“I know that Food Lion donated a lot of water. I can’t even tell you how much. The company was pretty quiet about that but they donated a lot of water to the areas that were hit the hardest,” said Maultsby. “At the time, I was at the Boone store and they (the company) sent us gift cards (to distribute) and we put together a whole lot of bags of food. One of my assistant managers, Scott Stansbery, also worked with the fire department, hiking bags of food into remote areas for people who couldn’t get out.”
The Food Lion location in Blowing Rock is 7533 Valley Boulevard, Blowing Rock. Need to call? (828) 295-7585.A
