BI-LO, 8 Chesterfield Highway: November 2014
For the BI-LO to have only been closed for five years, it still looks to be in decent shape from the outside. The town has taken good care of it so that it doesn't look like the old Walmart. According to The Link (paywalled, page 3, top-right), the BI-LO was closed because it had been unprofitable for several years. It should be noted that those "several years" involved having to compete with the lower prices of the new Walmart's full grocery section, and few grocery stores end up being able to do so, even one whose slogan used to be "the name fits." The only grocery (and more) store I have seen that has been able to compete with Walmart's lower prices on groceries is HEB in Texas, but even then, there were always certain items that still cost more at HEB than at Walmart. HEB likely holds the upper hand on Walmart in Texas because of how long HEB has been in Texas, and it was always a more pleasant shopping experience. By the way, I miss HEB, but I digress...
About a year or so ago, there was a possibility of another grocery store moving into the BI-LO building, but it was apparently going to be slightly higher-end groceries (maybe somewhere in between a BI-LO and Publix). There was even talk of this grocery store having some dine-in eatery that would be occasionally open. Whatever that was fell through, and it is my understanding that the showstopper was that this BI-LO had a bat infestation. I'm not sure what this grocery store had against Batman, but I don't see how any higher-end grocery store would do well at all here. Anyway, the current plans for this location is for the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, which is currently downtown occupying the old Duvall's (Cheraw) Hardware store, to move in.
This location was built during the mid-to-late 1990s and replaced the BI-LO that used to be next to Windsor Drive at 940 Chesterfield Highway, which has been the location of Badcock Furniture for some years now. For a while, CVS shared the building with BI-LO before moving to its current location. I recall the BI-LO bakery making these coffee cake rings, which I used to like to eat for a quick breakfast in the mornings. When BI-LO stopped making those, I think I was as disappointed as I was when Krispy Kreme stopped making chocolate-iced crullers. I've mentioned the latter before to people, and no one ever seems to remember them. And then I found this! I'm going to be disappointed the next time I go to a KK, and they don't have these because clearly they still make them.