Lowes Foods is planting another flag in the booming suburbs ringing Charlotte, this time anchoring a new shopping center in Sherrills Ford that will put the Winston-Salem grocer less than a mile from an existing Publix. The Winston-Salem-based chain has filed a 20-year lease agreement with developer MVP Properties and investors behind the Terrell Town Center project, according to county property records filed on October 14, positioning the roughly 51,000-square-foot store at the corner of N.C. Highway 150 and Sherrills Ford Road in Catawba County.
The planned store sits at 9210 Sherrills Ford Road, according to The Charlotte Observer, which reported the lease filing. The grocer confirmed it is working with the developer on the site, though planning remains at an early stage, the paper reported. Terrell Town Center is envisioned as a mixed-use project with single-family and multi-family housing alongside new commercial parcels, according to Mooresville Realty, and current plans for the site also call for a Chipotle Mexican Grill and two additional retail parcels, per the Observer's reporting.
A Crowded Corridor Near Lake Norman
The new store will land less than a mile east of the Publix at the Village Shoppes in Sherrills Ford, per the same Observer account, raising the question of how much grocery real estate one stretch of N.C. Highway 150 can absorb. Catawba County's population was estimated at 170,172 in 2025, according to Wikipedia.
The corridor's ability to support multiple grocers is worth watching as development continues. Whether the corridor can comfortably support two full-size supermarkets within a mile of each other remains an open question as development continues.
Lowes Foods' Return From a 2014 Retreat
The Sherrills Ford project is the latest move in what amounts to a reversal for Lowes Foods, which began pulling out of the Charlotte market in 2014 as part of a reinvestment strategy that involved swapping locations with rival Harris Teeter and closing underperforming stores, the Observer reported. That retreat followed a round of store-swap transactions between the two chains dating back to 2012, according to historical reporting from Supermarket News.
Now the 72-year-old company, a subsidiary of Hickory-based Alex Lee, is expanding again. The chain employs nearly 9,000 workers across roughly 80 supermarkets in the Carolinas, per the Observer's reporting. Lowes Foods operates across North Carolina and South Carolina.
Lowes Foods opened a store at Kannapolis Parkway and Rogers Lake Road in June, marking the chain's third regional opening in less than a year, the Observer noted. That followed a January opening on Providence Road in Waxhaw and a September 2025 debut in Indian Land, South Carolina, at U.S. 521 and Possum Hollow Road. The grocer is also building a second Mooresville location at the southwest corner of Mecklenburg Highway and the East-West Connector, expected to open in 2027, and submitted sketch plans in August to renovate its existing Burlington store on South Boulevard with a drive-thru and parking lot upgrades — plans the company says have not been finalized.
Charlotte's $10.8 Billion Grocery Fight
The Sherrills Ford announcement lands amid an unusually crowded stretch for Charlotte-area grocery openings. Wegmans debuted its first Charlotte-area store in Ballantyne this month, and Food Lion opened a store at 5706 Wyalong Drive just a week earlier, according to the Observer. Wegmans has also announced plans for a second area store in Cornelius near Lake Norman.
At least two more grocery stores are set to open in the Charlotte region in November, per the Observer's reporting. Publix will open a 50,325-square-foot store employing about 140 full- and part-time workers at Village Commons, 6460 Weddington Road in Wesley Chapel, opening at 7 a.m. on November 4. Sprouts Farmers Market will open its fourth area location at 8885 Christenbury Parkway in Concord on November 13.
Ahead of its Charlotte debut, Wegmans circulated advertisements claiming its top 250 most-purchased products cost 20% more at Harris Teeter and 8% more at Food Lion, an aggressive price pitch aimed squarely at the region's established players, according to Grocery Dive. Regional chains like Lowes Foods have leaned on experiential concepts such as its Beer Den, SausageWorks, Chicken Kitchen, Pick & Prep and The Cakery to differentiate itself from both mass retailers and new entrants, according to a Simplify Jobs listing describing the chain's store operations.
The stakes are high: Charlotte's grocery market is now valued at $10.8 billion across 737 stores in the region, the Observer reported. Walmart remains a major presence in Charlotte's grocery market. Food Lion has also backed its Carolinas growth with a $475 million financing deal for an $860 million automated distribution center in Burlington, projected to open in 2029.
