In southern Anne Arundel County -- where residents are anxiously monitoring the possibility of three giant supermarkets coming to Shady Side and Deale -- more details about the potential food store chains are coming to light.

In one of the most interesting developments, Food Lion Inc. has begun negotiations to build on two parcels within about two miles of each other. Because the area is not heavily populated enough to support two stores so close, locals expect that the North Carolina-based company will put its store wherever it gets the better deal.

"It looks like they are playing both ends against the middle," said Weems W. Duvall Jr., a local attorney who has said that preserving the rural flavor of his hometown and battling big development is his "life's mission."

The first of the potential Food Lion sites -- for which a rezoning hearing is set for March 16 -- is at Deale Churchton and Shady Side roads near Deale, where the South Arundel Chamber of Commerce is now.

The second site would be just east of that intersection, where Smith Building Supply sits. Jack Smith, the owner and a longtime local businessman, did not return calls Wednesday, but has publicly talked about his preliminary negotiations with Food Lion at a meeting of small-business owners.

The third potential store -- a 55,000-square-feet Safeway in a large strip mall -- would be built at Bay Front and Deale Churchton roads. The site plans for this store have been submitted to the county's Office of Planning and Code Enforcement, which has not taken final action.

The Deale-Shady Side area is largely a small town and waterfront area with environmentally sensitive wetlands, making development a touchy subject. Locals are traditionally opposed to big development and staunchly in favor of rural preservation.

Since only one large grocery store will likely thrive -- probably whichever chain first negotiates its way through a maze of county regulations and state environmental codes -- residents have dubbed the situation "the store wars."

Competition fits pattern

Jeff Metzger, editor of the Maryland-based trade journal Food World, said the situation is hardly unique.

"It's all a war zone out there," he said, citing the rapid expansion and hot competition between food store chains including Food Lion, Safeway and Giant.

Metzger said the demographics of a region play a big part in determining which grocery stores target an area. Food Lion, he said, will often build in markets that other supermarket conglomerates wouldn't even consider.

"Food Lion's break-even point is much smaller than other stores'," Metzger said. "It would probably be safe to say it needs to pull in about half of what a Safeway needs to in order to be very profitable."

Metzger said Food Lion tends to build smaller stores, is a non-union company and offers fewer service departments -- such as dry cleaning and banking -- which require more employees.

Residents fear desertion

A lower break-even point could be crucial for success in South County. Deale-Shady Side has only about 11,000 people.

One of residents' biggest concerns has been that the grocery stores will pull out of the area, leaving behind an abandoned building once they discover there is not enough business to turn a profit.

Food Lion's past actions don't alleviate this worry. The mid-Atlantic chain aggressively expanded into the South -- especially Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana -- during the late '80s and early '90s, only to close more than 60 of its stores in recent years, leaving dozens of empty storefronts. One town in Texas turned its sprawling, dead grocery store into a new police headquarters.

"We are worried about all sorts of things if these stores come in," said Dick Christopher, a store manager at the Deale Buy Rite grocery store. "We feel like we're fighting for our lives here."

Some favor convenience

Not everyone is against the new stores. Several people in the Deale Merchant's Association have expressed support for a convenient, one-stop grocery store in the area so residents don't have to travel up to 20 miles to shop.

Another of Metzger's observations could worry local people even more. He said that Safeway -- because it tends to locate in convenient strip malls and offer full-service departments such as delis and pharmacies -- tends to draw people from further away than Food Lion stores do.

"There is generally more traffic associated with a big Safeway," he said.

Deale and Shady Side are peninsula towns with one main road in and out. Residents have often argued that their non-shouldered roads do not meet the needs of their rapidly developing region.

Pub Date: 3/04/99