How else can you buy actual balls in the grocery store? It’s fascinating if you think about it. Food Lion sells you the ability, the will, to start fights and resist arrest.

GASTONIA — Joe Neal was hoping for a little compassion and maybe some Christmas cheer when he tried to pay a local grocery store for a steak he stole last week. Instead, Food Lion workers called Gastonia Police Wednesday, who wrote Neal a ticket for stealing a $3.98 steak.

Food Lion LLC is an American grocery store company headquartered in Salisbury, North Carolina that operates approximately 1,300 supermarkets in 11 Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states under the Food Lion, Harveys, Bloom, Bottom Dollar, and Reid's nameplates. With approximately 73,000 associates, Food Lion LLC is the largest subsidiary of Delhaize Group. Delhaize Group is a food retailer headquartered in Belgium which operates in 7 countries. Delhaize Group was founded in Belgium in 1867. The principal activity of Delhaize Group is the operation of food supermarkets in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia. Supermarket News ranked Delhaize America No. 10 in the 2007 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2006 fiscal year estimated sales of $17.3 billion.