re: Best regional grocery store chains?

Very much a regional store in SW Virginia, North Carolina, East Tennessee, and maybe South Carolina, Food City has great stores.
They had one in Knoxville that just wasn't up to their standards, I think it was closed after a year and a half trial.
Food City puts stores out in the burbs where people drive to buy groceries. Just because they're the only game in town DOESN'T mean their prices are ridiculous, their prices are competitive, their store brands very acceptable, and their store managers will work to get in products that the neighbors want. They even have butchers working in their stores.

For us, Food City for the win.