In November 2017, Food City opened its first in-store Starbucks in a newly built location in Athens, Tennessee. That same month, K-VA-T opened a 62,000 square feet (5,800 m 2) Food City in Johnson City, Tennessee, the largest store ever constructed by the company. K-VA-T reached a milestone in October 2015 by opening its first Georgia location, a converted BI-LO, in Rossville, Georgia.
The company plans to invest over $40 million in capital improvements to the locations during the first year as well as install Gas'N Go fuel stations in as many locations as possible. In July 2015, Food City announced the purchase of 21 BI-LO locations in the Chattanooga, Tennessee market as well as eight BI-LO stores in Northern Georgia from Southeastern Grocers. In December 2010, K-VA-T purchased Old Town Market in Tazewell, Tennessee, as a replacement store for their New Tazewell, Tennessee, location. The beam sits above the entrance way in the 100th store. The company celebrated this event by sending a special commemorative I-beam to every store in the company where employees signed it as a goodwill gesture for the new store. Three years later, in October 2008, K-VA-T opened its 100th store in Rogersville, Tennessee. K-VA-T celebrated its 50th anniversary November 17, 2005, by opening a 46,500 square feet (4,320 m 2) store in Vansant, Virginia, just outside Grundy. In February 2006, Food City announced the purchase of eight Bi-Lo locations in Knoxville, Maryville, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The following year, Winn-Dixie pulled out of the Knoxville market and sold their seven stores to Food City.
In 1998, Food City acquired the 11-store Kennedy Piggly Wiggly chain as well as full control of Mid-Mountain Foods, the current Food City Distribution Center. In 1989, Food City purchased the 37-store White Stores chain based out of Knoxville, Tennessee, more than doubling the size of the company. The Smiths adopted Food City as the new nameplate, along with its heritage, for all of their stores going forward.
The company continued to grow steadily until 1984 when it acquired Quality Foods, a 19-store chain (founded in 1918), that operated under the Food City name. In 1963, Smith added a second store in South Williamson, Kentucky, followed by a newly constructed third location in Pikeville, Kentucky, in 1965, and a store in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, in 1967. traces its history to 1955, when company founder Jack Smith opened his first 8,800-square-foot (820 m 2) Piggly Wiggly store in Grundy, Virginia, with the help of three special stockholders: his father, Curtis Smith, uncle, Earl Smith and cousin, Ernest Smith. Ī Food City location in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Food City is also the exclusive distributor of regional favorites such as "Kay's Ice Cream", "Moore's Classic Snacks", "Terry's Classic Snacks", "Kern's Bread", and "Lay Classic Meats". It offers many private label product choices under the brands "Food Club," "TopCare", "That's Smart!", "Food City Fresh!", "Full Circle", "Paws Happy Life", "Simply Done", "Wide Awake Coffee Co.", "Tippy Toes", "Harvest Club", "Evolve", "Over the Top", "Nostimo", "CharKing", "Misty Mountain", "Flock's Finest", "b-lieve", "Culinary Tours", "Pure Harmony" and more, many of which are part of the Topco corporate brand program. Many of their grocery stores have their own fuel stations, with the Gas'N Go branding. K-VA-T Food Stores owns the Food City Distribution Center (formerly Mid-Mountain Foods), a distribution center K-VA-T helped form in 1974 and acquired full control of in 1998, Misty Mountain Spring Water, LLC, a producer of bottled water, as well as limited-assortment grocery stores named Super Dollar Food Center, Food City Express and Gas'N Go convenience stores, and Food City Wine and Spirits liquor stores. It is owned by K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc., a privately held family and employee-owned corporation (13% via ESOP) headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia. Food City is an American supermarket chain with stores located in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.