LEWISTON — Food City Holdings Inc., doing business as Food City and Save-A-Lot Food Stores, has completed a transaction to become 100 percent employee-owned through its Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

All eligible employees will be granted shares of company stock each year, at no cost to themselves, allowing them to earn ownership over time and accumulate tax-deferred retirement wealth.

The transaction was made possible when Food City Holdings Inc.’s board of directors, shareholders and the company’s management team transitioned 100 percent of their ownership to the ownership plan.

The company was founded in 1985 in Lewiston and operates nine retail grocery stores in Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont.