Food City (K-VA-T)

K-VA-T's corporate operations were located in Grundy, Virginia, from its inception in 1955 until it moved to Abingdon, Virginia, in the 1970s. Over the course of the years, the company's operations were spread out over five different buildings throughout Abingdon and Washington County.[15]

In October 2013, K-VA-T officially consolidated its corporate operations into a new headquarters building in downtown Abingdon, Virginia, at 1 Food City Circle. The four-story, 140,000 square feet (13,000 m²), facility sits on 17 acres and used parts of the old building in the construction of the new one, with the parking garage receiving renovations to continue its use.[15] In November 2017, K-VA-T donated their previous corporate office building in Abingdon to the Barter Theater.[16]

In 2008, K-VA-T opened its first limited-assortment grocery store named Super Dollar Discount Foods in Wytheville, Virginia. Over the course of the years, the new format has grown by opening up new locations and converting some older, smaller, Food City locations in Pikeville and Prestonsburg, Kentucky; Rogersville, Tennessee; and Grundy, Virginia. In May 2017, K-VA-T began re-branding the Super Dollar Discount Foods stores in Abingdon, Hillsville, and Wytheville, Virginia to the Super Dollar Food Center banner. Over the course of 2017, the rest of the Super Dollar Discount Foods locations were converted to this new banner. As of January 2019, there were 7 Super Dollar locations, two with Gas'N Go fuel stations.[17]

In August 2012, K-VA-T opened its first Food City Wine and Spirits liquor store, in Pikeville, Kentucky.[18] The company's second Food City Wine and Spirits opened in Louisa, Kentucky, in August 2015.[19]

In June 2020, K-VA-T converted its older Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, location to their new Express by Food City format.[20]

In April 2012, after purchasing a former Exxon branded station in Coeburn, Virginia, K-VA-T opened its first Food City Express branded convenience store to complement their existing grocery store.[21] In June 2014, K-VA-T opened a second location in a former RaceWay convenience store in Elizabethton, Tennessee, under their Gas'N Go branding.[22] Another pair of Gas'N Go convenience store locations were constructed and opened in Morristown and Bristol, Tennessee, later in 2014. A fifth location was opened in Oliver Springs, Tennessee in July 2016.

When K-VA-T acquired Quality Foods and adopted the Food City name in 1984, the Galax, Virginia, Piggly Wiggly location was renamed Oldtown Market. In 1989, Food City sold Oldtown Market to two of its retired management team members. This banner is not to be confused with the Old Town Market Tazewell, Tennessee, location that K-VA-T purchased and rebranded in 2010.[23]

K-VA-T had converted their Sweetwater, Tennessee, location into Valu Foods, a discount warehouse store. This location closed in 1999.

K-VA-T closed one of its two Sevierville, Tennessee, locations in 2005, but it reopened this location a few months later under the While It Lasts banner. This location was used as a closeout store for the various products and brands from the Bi-Lo stores acquisition that were not carried in regular Food City locations. It closed in 2006.

Each year Food City hosts their Pet Hunger Drive. Shoppers are invited to purchase pre-packaged pet food bags for donation to local animal shelters. In 2017, the campaign raised a record-breaking $109,000 to benefit local animal shelters throughout the region.[27]

In 1992, Food City began working with the Kingsport Area Chamber of Commerce and CSX Transportation to solicit donations of toys, candy, clothes and money for the Appalachia Santa Train, a 110-mile (180 km) trip through the Appalachian Mountains via train that distributes over 15 tons of gifts to children. Food City's involvement has grown to the point where around 200 volunteers work on the project each year.[28]

K-VA-T holds a company-wide annual fundraising campaign where shoppers can make a contribution through the purchase of a JDRF "sneaker" at the checkout. 100% of the funds collected are donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. As of November 2018, Food City has donated over $1.878 million to JDRF.

Food City purchases a great deal of their produce within their trade area, providing additional support to the regions in which they operate. The company purchases an average of $6,000,000 in locally grown produce annually from a number of local farms, including those in Grainger, Blount, Hawkins, Unicoi, Jefferson and Sullivan counties in Tennessee; Scott and Carroll counties and through Appalachian Harvest co-op for locally grown organics from the growers in Scott County, Virginia.[29] In July 2011, Food City announced that 95 percent of its eggs would come from Dutt & Wagner of Virginia, Inc., a family-operated egg business that produces and distributes its eggs from Abingdon, Virginia. The remaining 5 percent of eggs are considered specialty products, such as Egg Beaters.[30]

Since 2011, K-VA-T and NASCAR Champion Richard Petty have teamed up to benefit the Paralyzed Veterans of America's Mission: ABLE campaign by collecting donation from shoppers totaling over $1.26 million. 100% of the donations collected benefit local Paralyzed Veterans within the region.[31][32]

Since 1992, Food City stores have held the annual Race Against Hunger holiday campaign where shoppers can make a contribution at the checkout. The Race Against Hunger campaign raises over $350,000 annually for numerous hunger relief organizations throughout the region.[33]

In 1990, Food City began their Apples for the Students program. From its inception until 2007, the program allowed students to collect specially colored Food City register receipts in exchange for computers, software, sporting goods, calculators, teaching tools, audio/visual and other educational materials for their schools. In 2007, the program went completely electronic, allowing customers to link their Food City loyalty cards to the particular school they wish to donate to. This advancement also allowed schools to check totals online. In 2009, Food City rebranded its Apples for the Students program as Food City School Bucks.

Since the program's inception, Food City has awarded $18.6 million to more than 1,000 schools.[34]

Since 1988, Food City has been the official sponsor of the Tim Irwin/Food City Bass Tournament held in Lenoir City, Tennessee. Proceeds from the tournament benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley and has raised over $1,000,000 since 1988.[35]

Food City sponsored NASCAR's Dale Earnhardt from 1995 through 1999.

Food City sponsors two NASCAR events at Bristol Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series' Food City Dirt Race in the spring and the late NASCAR Xfinity Series' Food City 300 in the summer. The Food City deal, which began in 1992, is currently the second longest race entitlement sponsor deal in the Cup Series. As part of the renewal and the 20th anniversary announcement in 2011, following the death in 2010 of track President and General Manager Jeff Byrd, the 20th anniversary race was renamed the Jeff Byrd 500 presented by Food City.[36] The 2015 race was renamed the Food City 500 In Support Of Steve Byrnes And Stand Up To Cancer,[37] while the 2020 race was renamed Food City Presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 to honor front-line workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.[38]

Along with these races, Food City holds the Food City Family Race Nights in Knoxville and Bristol, Tennessee, the week preceding the NASCAR events.

In 1995, Food City signed on as a sponsor of Dale Earnhardt's No. 3 Winston Cup Series Chevrolet race car. They renewed the sponsorship in 1997 for two more years with a bonus sponsorship of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Busch Series Chevrolet race car. The Food City/Earnhardt combination captured seven series wins and the 1998 championship during the sponsorship deal.[39]

From 2005 to 2007, Food City also sponsored the former Hooters Pro Cup event at Bristol Motor Speedway, the Food City 150.[40][41]

Prior to 2010, Food City was a primary sponsor of the Web.com Tour Knoxville Open golf tournament in Knoxville, Tennessee, which benefited several charities.[42]

In September 2014, it was announced that Food City would be a presenting sponsor for the Battle at Bristol football game in 2016 between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Virginia Tech Hokies.[43] In September 2016, Bristol Motor Speedway announced that Food City signed on as the title sponsor of the "Bucs at Bristol" football game between the ETSU Buccaneers and the Western Carolina Catamounts. The Bucs at Bristol game is the first Southern Conference home game for ETSU since 2003 when the school disbanded their football program.[44]