Lowes Foods opening Wednesday in Forest Acres

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Lowes Foods’ third Columbia-area store will open Wednesday in Forest Acres.

The 51,500-square-foot store at 4711 Forest Drive will open at 8 a.m. Lowes operates two stores in Lexington.

The upscale grocery features elements such as the Beer Den, Bread Crumb bakery and Smokehouse.

“We’ve received an incredible welcome to the Columbia area since the opening of our two stores in Lexington about a year ago and are very excited to extend Lowes Foods’ unique grocery shopping experience to new friends in Forest Acres,” Lowes Foods president Tim Lowe said in a news release. “Like all our Lowes Foods stores, our new Forest Acres store will be very focused on supporting all things local.”

The Beer Den will feature local craft and seasonal beers, complete with growler fill stations. Bread Crumb’s fresh-baked artisanal breads have no preservatives, and the store’s Hot Fresh Bread program promises fresh bread every day from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wood-smoked meats including beef, pork, chicken and salmon are available in the Smokehouse.

Lowes also includes the Chicken Kitchen, the Cakery and Pick & Prep, a service in which fruits and vegetables are cut while customers shop, along with a pick-your-own herbs section.  

The store will also feature the Lowes Foods-To-Go online personal shopping service.

Lowes Foods, founded in 1954, employs approximately 9,000 people in 1,000 stores in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. Lowes Foods is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hickory, N.C.-based Alex Lee Inc.

Lowes announced plans to enter the Midlands market in June 2016 and opened its first Columbia-area store at 2440 Augusta Highway in May 2017. A second location opened at Sunset Boulevard and Hope Ferry Road last July.