Lowes Foods opens sixth Charlotte-area store amid stiff grocery competition
A North Carolina grocery chain has opened another Charlotte-area store, with plans for more. Lowes Foods debuted its sixth Charlotte-area store Thursday, Jan. 15, at 3412 Providence Road in Waxhaw, the company said in a news release.
Just three months ago, Lowes Foods opened at U.S. 521 and Possum Hollow Road at The Exchange in Indian Land, S.C. Lowes also recently opened a store in Columbia.
The store has about 150 full- and part-time employees.
Lowes plans to open another store in the Charlotte region this summer in Kannapolis, as well as expansions in Wendell and Fuquay-Varina in the Triangle and store conversion of Kj’s Market in Lyman and John’s Island in South Carolina.
What to expect at the new Lowes Foods
Features at the Waxhaw store, Lowes Foods said, include: The Community Table to gather for food pairings, tea parties and floral arranging classes, plus parties and events.
The Beer Den with craft beers and drafts. Shoppers can grab a pour and sip while they shop, or fill a growler or crowler to take home.
The Cakery, a whimsical bakery where square cakes are assembled, topped with icing made in-store with real cream and butter.
SausageWorks features locally sourced pork, beef and poultry sausages in several flavors.
Boxcar Coffee. Sip on a cup of coffee or grab a smoothie for children.
The Chicken Kitchen: prepared chicken as rotisserie, wings, pot pies, tenders, salad and soup.
The Smokehouse offers a rotation of wood-smoked meats ready to eat or take home.
Sammy’s offers lunch or dinner sandwiches, pizza and vegetables to eat in-store or take home.
More about Lowes Foods
Over a decade ago, Lowes Foods began pulling out of Charlotte, swapping stores with Harris Teeter and closing underperforming stores in 2014, as part of a reinvestment strategy in new stores and remodeling others.
The 72-year-old company has almost 9,000 employees at 80 Lowes Foods supermarkets in the Carolinas. Lowes Foods is a subsidiary of Alex Lee, based in Hickory.
Other grocery store expansions
Lowes Foods joins stiff competition in a field of nearly 730 grocery stores in the $10.4 billion Charlotte region market.
Discount giant Walmart has dominated the field for six years, followed by Matthews-based grocer Harris Teeter and Salisbury-based Food Lion. Recent store expansions and more planned in the Charlotte region include:
- Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans will make its Charlotte debut this fall with a 110,000-square-foot grocery in Ballantyne at 11550 North Community House Road. Hiring began Wednesday for full-time employees with construction underway.
- Sprouts Farmers Market, Phoenix-based specialty grocer, has filed plans to open in the former Earth Fare at Christenbury Corners, 8885 Christenbury Parkway, in Concord. In August, Sprouts opened its third Charlotte-area store in NoDa.
- Whole Foods Market, based in Austin, Texas, will open in the former Earth Fare at Toringdon Market shopping center in Ballantyne at 12235 North Community House Road. Whole Foods has been owned by online retail giant Amazon since 2017.
- In September, Aldi store in University City at 9609 N. Tryon St.
- Matthews-based Harris Teeter will open three area stores in Fort Mill, Lake Wylie and downtown Kannapolis. On Wednesday, Harris Teeter confirmed it will close the Mintworth Commons store at 5706 Wyalong Drive by April 17.
- Florida-based Publix supermarket has at least four store openings planned at: Wesley Chapel, The Arboretum, 10 Tryon building in uptown and South Park, following the debut at Clear Creek Crossings in May.
- Trader Joe’s will open its fourth Charlotte-area store in Matthews.
- Historic West End Partners is planning a cooperative grocery store in partnership with Weaver Street Market, which has four stores in the Raleigh region.
- The West Boulevard Coalition plans to open a cooperative grocery store, Three Sisters Market.
- California-based grocer Spangler’s is planning a store at Kohler and Statesville avenues, north of uptown.
This story was originally published January 15, 2026 at 12:24 PM with the headline "Lowes Foods opens sixth Charlotte-area store amid stiff grocery competition."
