Food Lion — Local services in Kent Island

They have great deals and low prices. Their employees are very friendly and helpful. My shopping cart was completely filled, if I would have continued shopping more I would have had to get another cart and thought I had spent well over $100, but only ended up spending about $86. If I would have went to Safeway. I would have gotten half of what I got and spent way more money. Their produce is always fresh and locally grown. They have a decent sized section of organic only products. Everything is easy to find, I never have to ask where something is. The store is always neat and clean when I go in and their public bathrooms are usually always clean too. I think only 1/50 times I have been their that their bathroom was messy,but didn't stay that way for long before someone went in their and cleaned it. Also their employees were very informative about their club card benefits and how it works and how to get the most savings when using their club card. The deli section was clean and neat and organized. The deli department workers were also very informative about the different meats and cheeses and deli items they sell too. The lines may look long sometimes, but their cashier's are all usually pretty quick with ringing people up and getting you checked out in a timely manner. They have self checkout too with am employee there to assist you in any way, if you need any help. They have fresh bakery items that are all properly dated and fresh. The meat department was out of stock of something and the meat department worker noticed I was looking for something and the space was empty and stopped to ask if I needed assistance with anything and I said yes and asked if they had any more in stock in the back and he was very kind and helpful. He stopped what he was doing and went in the back and came back with the meat I was looking for. Also their good at giving you a card when you want something that is on sale,but they are out of it, you go to the customer service desk and let them know they will double check and make sure none is in the back and give u a card with the sale item written on it and how much it is on sale for and inform you when the item will be back in stock, so you can come back later even if it is no longer on sale at the time you show the cashier the card and still get the item at sale price even though the sale is over. I love that, because Food Lion is pretty popular here and they do tend to run out of certain items when they go on sale so I can still get the item at the sale price and save money on that item even after the sale has ended. So for these numerous reason I will rate my Food Lion with 5 stars! I can honestly say that I have never had a bad experience at this store. I cannot say the same for...

I am really disappointed in this store. I frequently buy small amounts of groceries here as my spouse primarily shops at Safeway for the household. I had never had a bad experience until earlier today. I went to the self check out line along with several other people. The one employee decided to watch me ring up my items; she watched me on a device that appeared to track every item i rang up. I felt very uncomfortable as she also was exceptionally close to me without standing in front of my register. I also happened to be the only person of color in self check out at this point.

At the end of checkout, I struggled to figure out how to input my member number. Instead of offering to help, she yells "I saw that you attempted to ring up an item but it didn't go through. Go back and check then ring it up." She did happen to be correct that the item didn't ring up, despite me swiping it already. She never came over to my register to check or to offer assistance so I assumed she was watching every item I rang up one. I have never stolen anything in my life but I have been profiled as a person of color numerous times in the past. I have never had such an experience here.

She could have handled this very differently (for example, checked other ppl's items as well; offered to help me figure it out; asked me what i needed help with when I paused as she was so close she could observe it). After the completion of my checkout, I thanked her for her assistance although she had not offered me any. I have been taught to treat ignorance with kindness but that employee showed anything but kindness. She then put the device down and did not monitor the 2-3 other customers including the one directly in front of her. I felt profiled for the 1st time attending this store. I did appreciate the catch but the poor customer service...

So while I was at Food Lion today I heard a customer ask an employee why they didn't have directional signs on the aisles. The response was that no one would pay attention to them anyway.

I don't disagree. But is that a reason to not offer those who want to do the right thing the opportunity to do so?

I mean, I understand that a lot of places are experiencing shortages. There was likely panic buying of puff pastry, marmite, and sun-dried tomato paste early in the pandemic. I can't fault them for bare shelves, especially on a holiday weekend. But keeping people moving in one direction and making some effort other that the clearly ignored recording to maintain safe distances should be the yardstick that any store is measured by this month. And Food Lion does not...