Bloom, Food Lion’s techie grocery concept, is coming to Raleigh, according to an article by Sue Stock this morning. The store offers personal handheld barcode scanners that let you scan as you shop with no checkout line. They also are aiming at a totally different feel and experience in their stores. The store will be located in a new strip center at Ray and Strickland Roads (map it).

It is surprising that Food Lion took so long to migrate their concept store to our little nerdistan. I am excited about having another shopping option, however the complaint I hear about the store is that it is supplied by the same regional distribution hubs as Food Lion uses for their main stores, so the store’s inventory is not different than a good Food Lion store’s.