Annandale Bloom to Close by Next Month
The grocery store is one of 126 locations that will close this year.
Update 9:20 p.m.: At this time, the company does not have a definitive close date for the Annandale location outside of the within 30 days, according to Christy Phillips-Brown, external communications director for Bloom. The Annandale Bloom, which opened in January 2010, employes between 35-40 people. Customers can expect to see some sales at the store as early as next week while the store goes through what Brown called an interdiscount marked down process.
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Original post at 11:45 a.m.
The Annandale Shopping Center's about to undergo another change. The Annandale Bloom will close in 30 days due to underperformance.
According to a press release published on Tuesday, Jan. 11, Delhaize America, the company that owns Bloom grocery stores, will permanently close seven underperforming stores. Annandale's location is among the seven, as well as a location in Fairfax. The company plans to close a total of 126 locations and will retire the Bloom banner and convert 42 Bloom stores in Virginia and Maryland to Food Lion.
"Today's actions will continue to solidify our U.S. operations and enable our company to focus on our successful brand strategy repositioning at Food Lion and the expansion of Bottom Dollar Food in new markets," said Ron Hodge, CEO of Delhaize America, in the press release. "While these were difficult decisions given the impact on our associates, customers and communities, we believe these actions will enable us to better serve our customers in our markets with high density, while positioning the company for future growth."
Delhaize estimates approximately 4,900 employees will be displaced. The news release states that the company will provide severance to eligible associates, and will work with government officials to assist with transition support. Only employees working at converted stores will continue to work at those locations.
Read the full press release here.
Annandale Patch has reached out to Bloom and will have an update on this story later today.
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In This article
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Annandale Shopping Center
4127 Meadow Ct, Annandale, VA (P.O. Box 10; Annandale, VA 22003) -
Bloom Supermarket
7000 Columbia Pike, Annandale, VA
Sherell Williams
2:37 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
Thanks to some of our readers on our Facebook page for their suggestions! Some said they'd like to see a Trader Joe's, Whole Foods or another store with kosher items move to the Annandale Shopping Center.
BTW images
3:35 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
Like to see a restaurant!
Sherell Williams
3:44 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
A restaurant could work! There will be a new restaurant opening across the street (we'll have full details on the site next week!), so it'd be interesting if we had two new ones open close together like that.
Ritchie
7:21 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
If a supermarket underperforms at a given location what factors would cause a new supermarket to succeed there, especially a pricier one? .
Sherell Williams
9:37 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
It seems like some shoppers had a hard time distinguishing Bloom from its competitors like Giant and Safeway, which are also in Annandale and have similar sales or deals. Replacing it with a specialty store or one that sells a broader variety of products like a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods might give those grocery stores a better chance to succeed. Rather than driving to Fairfax or Falls Church for those stores, Annandale residents could shop closer to home. (Please note that I'm not responding with official knowledge, just general feelings from what I've gathered based on comments from readers on Facebook and Twitter about their shopping habits regarding Bloom).
CD
7:25 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
I would agree that I would love to see a restaurant come in. I would love to see a Famous Dave BBQ/ Pei Wei/ PF Chang/ Red Hot & Blue or something along that line.
Beth O
9:50 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
The customer service was always lousy at Bloom, and their prices no better than Giant/Safeway/HarrisTeeter. I'd love to see Whole Foods back in Annandale, but it's unlikely since the last one (where Staples is on Braddock/Little River) closed due to poor performance. We don't need another restaurant just like all the others in Annandale!
Bob
10:24 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
The biggest problem is getting in and out of the parking leading to Columbia Pike and Gallows Road. Turns people away.
Maria Ferrante
9:23 pm on Saturday, January 14, 2012
Would love to see Whole Foods back in Annandale - would make my life so much easier
CD
7:27 am on Sunday, January 15, 2012
I agree with Beth the customer service was very lousy. I actually wrote letters to the company a few times regarding their employees behavior. I truly enjoyed the time I had to wait to get rung up so the two employees could finish talking about some guy or the time when a guy came in just to talk to one of the lady cashier and I had to wait in line until they finished flirting with each other and making their plans for the night. Many other incidents this only names two.
K Lee
9:56 am on Tuesday, February 28, 2012
I know I'm late on this conversation, but I don't think another grocery store can suceed in that location. It is too close to Giant which really has a market on the area. Giant has been around for a long time and offers the most variety of goods. The Bloom location is too close to the the Safeway on Little River Turnpike and is not that far from Harris Teeter as well and certainly too close in proximity to Giant. I don't know what else would go in there, perhaps a dollar store like Dollar Tree. I would love to see Family Dollar or Dollar General go in there, there would be quite a market for that type of store, but usually they are in the more rural areas. Wegman's would be fantastic, but there probably not be enough parking for that kind of store, nor the square footage that they would require. But I hope something goes in there quickly, looks bad for the Annandale area to have a huge closed up building.
Ananndalelocalgal
5:41 am on Thursday, April 26, 2012
I think a Trader's would be perfect there! We need a Nice small store with good prices. Say what you will about Bloom but they had good products and decent produce for a small store. It was great to stop by and pick up a few thing on the way home. Harris Teeter is alright but they are expensive. Safeway is OK but the one in Vienna is better. The Giant is not the best lousy produce and poorly organized.