The merger of two European supermarket companies is reverberating along the East Coast and Europe — especially in Salisbury, birthplace of Food Lion and home of Delhaize America.

Delhaize Group and Royal Ahold announced a “merger of equals” Wednesday that will create one of the largest supermarket operators in the United States. Internationally, the new Ahold Delhaize will have more than 6,500 stores with 375,000 workers in the U.S. and Europe.

Food Lion has a huge presence in Salisbury, from its corporate headquarters to its distribution centers and grocery stores. The company has 2,300 associates in the area plus thousands more loyal customers and many shareholders. As this deal unfolds and the new company streamlines operations, thousands of Rowan County families hope Food Lion will continue to call Salisbury home. In many ways — at least over the last 58 years — this is the town that Food Lion built.

It all started in 1957 when Brown Ketner, brother Ralph Ketner and friend Wilson Smith went through the phone book, A to Z, and called on friends to invest in their new venture. They sold shares in batches of 10 for $100. Putting their own money together with the $62,500 raised from investors, they opened the first Food Town store.

Those $100 investments made many a millionaire in Salisbury, and the resulting wealth has benefited local colleges, the hospital, cultural groups, Nazareth Children’s Home and more. The success of Food Town, later renamed Food Lion,  sparked a period of prosperity in Salisbury. In addition to investors who shared the wealth, the company itself has been a solid corporate citizen, supporting countless causes. Most recently, Food Lion celebrated the one-year anniversary of its Food Lion Feeds program by donating a million meals through local “Summers Without Hunger” donations. Food Lion is a hero in its hometown and beyond.

One Salisbury store grew into a Belgian-American chain of some 1,100 supermarkets. Soon the Food Lion story starts a new chapter as the chain becomes part of something even bigger than Delhaize. Like virtually every other line of business, supermarkets face new pressures and challenges. Everyone sells groceries, from the corner drug store to discount megastores. You could say Ralph Ketner’s five fast pennies concept — as opposed to one slow nickel — has gone viral. No one appreciates Food Lion’s success more than Salisbury, the place where it all started.