Industry Update: Grocery, Supermarket & Convenience Stores – September 2014

Personnel Updates:

Mark Retzloff has stepped down as Alfalfa’s CEO.

Busch’s Fresh Food Market has named Mike Brooks President and CEO.

C&S Wholesale Grocers has appointed Joseph J. Schena CFO and Exec VP, effective 9/28/2014.

Haggen Inc. has announced that John Clougher has been named CEO.

K-VA-T Food Stores has named Dan Glei as the company’s VP of Center Store.

Mi Pueblo Foods it has named Martin Cortes as its new CFO.

Golub Corporation has promoted Sean Weiss to Director of Business Intelligence and Pricing. Tracy Nolan has been hired as Senior VP and CIO.

Racetrac Petroleum Inc.’s company President, Max Lenker, announced that he will be retiring.

Financial:

Associated Wholesalers and its White Rose division have filed for bankruptcy, with plans to sell its assets. The company said it plans to hold an auction with C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc. as the lead bidder.

Marathon Petroleum Corp. entered into a loan agreement with a group of lenders that will provide it with $700 million to help pay for Speedway LLC’s purchase of Hess Retail Holdings LLC.

Industry Insight:

Bi-Lo Holdings LLC withdrew its IPO filling.

Instacart added Whole Foods Market to its delivery service in the Denver area.

Kroger announced that it is hiring to fill an estimated 20,000 permanent positions in its supermarket divisions.

Loblaw Cos. announced that its Real Canadian Superstore locations in Western Canada are now offering the Guiding Stars nutrition navigation program.

MAPCO has teamed with PayPal to launch the MY MAPCO app, bringing customers a secure way to purchase gasoline using their mobile devices.

Shoppers Drug Mart will begin testing sales of fresh produce, meats and other food items in six Toronto stores.

Smart & Final Stores Inc. filed for IPO.

Supervalu suffered a data breach that may have resulted in theft of customer payment card data.

Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., a division of Ahold USA celebrated its 100th birthday on 9/6/2014.

As if 9/12014, Whole Foods Market does not accept personal checks as payment in its Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas locations. The company also announced that it will be among one of the first companies to accept Apple Pay, a new mobile payment system for the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch devices that debuted Tuesday.

Mergers and Acquisitions:

7-Eleven completed the conversion of Wilson Farms Stores.

Aloha Petroleum Ltd. is working with Macquarie Capital to help it review its strategic alternatives, which could include selling the company.

CST Brands Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes.

After it was discovered that Danny’s Family Companies owner, Daniel Hendon, was hiring illegal immigrants, the company is being sold to another convenience store chain as a plea deal.

Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) has completed its acquisition of Susser Holdings Corp. for $1.8 billion. Susser ceases to be a publicly traded company and its common stock has been discontinued on the NYSE.

Gordy’s County Market announced that it has purchased three Our Town Fresh Markets from the Hegenbarth Food group. The stores are located in Arcadia, Galesville, and La Crosse, WI, and Gordy’s will begin operating the stores 10/20/2014.

GreenAcres Market acquired Whole Foods Association in Wichita, KS, doubling the chains store’s locations.

Kehe Distributors has completed the acquisition of Nature’s Best.

The Kroger Co. completed its $237.7 million purchase of Vitacost.com.

Market Basket shareholders accepted former CEO Arthur T. Demoulas’s $1.5 billion offer. Demoulas and Class B shareholders will acquire the 50.5% of the company owned by Arthur S. Demoulas and Class A shareholders.

The Spinx Co. has acquired seven convenience stores from 7-Eleven Inc.

Real Estate:

Aldi will reopen a remodeled Omaha, NE store.

Alimentation Couche-Tard announced that it plans to remodel 80-100 stores over the next year.

Balls Food Stores is launching a new grocery store concept, Payless Discount Foods, in Olathe, KS.

Casey’s General Stores Inc. has started building its second distribution center, which is scheduled to open in 2015.

Circle K Stores, Inc. has broken ground on its newest flagship prototype in Southern California. It is a 4,500-sq.-ft. convenience store offering fresh food, a gas station with eight fuel pumps, and a self-serve state-of-the-art carwash.

Coborn’s has announced it will build a new Cash Wise Foods store in the Oak Ridge development of West Fargo, ND. The location will include a grocery store, liquor store and convenience store with a car wash, and the stores will cover about 65,000-sq.-ft.

Dahl’s Foods announced that will be closing a store in West Des Moines, IA and renovating two locations, one in West Des Moines and one in Des Moines.

Delhaize America put 66 Bottom Dollar Foods discount stores up for sale. The stores are located in the Philadelphia, Lehigh Valley, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland areas.

Earth Fare opened a location in Jacksonville, FL.

Food Lion has finished remodeling 31 of its stores in the greater Wilmington, NC, market, and has announced plans to remodel 45 stores in Greenville.

The Fresh Market has leased 23,000-sq.-ft. at The Village at Livingston in Livingston, NJ.

Fresh Thyme Farmers Market will open a location in Grand Rapids, MI, and plans to open 4 stores in Detroit in 2016.   

Giant Eagle Inc. has opened its 90,970-sq.-ft. Market District store in Grandview Yard in Columbus, OH.

Heinen’s opened its 20th store in Bannockburn, IL.

Harris Teeter will invest $5.5 million to expand its Indian Trail, NC, distribution center by 50,000-sq.-ft. The company will begin expansion in October and plans to finish by July 2015.

Hy-Vee plans to build two supermarkets in Lakeville and Maple Grove, MN.

Jerry’s Enterprises will close two Rainbow Foods stores in November, including the St. Paul, MN location it purchased 4 months ago.

Key Food Stores has opened its newest Key Fresh & Natural location, on Amsterdam Ave in New York’s Upper West Side.

Kroger opened its largest Georgia location in North Athens. The store is 123,000-sq.-ft., and employs 450 associates.

Mariano’s Fresh Market opened its 23^rd store in Oak Lawn, IL. The company also said it will open a store at a former Dominick’s location in Naperville, IL.

Market Basket announced that it will open 2-5 stores in the upcoming year. The locations of the new stores will be in Revere, Attleboro, Littleton, Athol, and Plymouth, MA.

Natural Grocers plans to open a location in Portland, OR.

Fox Bros. Piggly Wiggly will be opening a new store in Hartford, WI, later this year.

RaceWay is selling 17 convenience stores with gasoline, including 4 locations in GA.

Roundy’s announced that it will be selling its Saukville store to Piggly Wiggly and plans to close three other Pick ‘n Save stores in Milwaukee and West Allis, WI.

Safeway announced that it will open a location in Sacramento, CA.

Sprouts Farmers Market opened a location in Spring, TX. It announced that it plans to open its first store in Alabama in early 2015, as well as ten additional locations. The new locations will be in Bakersfield, CA; Birmingham and Huntsville, AL; Cumming, GA; Houston and Mansfield, TX; Kansas City, MO; Scottsdale, AZ; and South Jordan, UT.

Strauss Brands Inc. announced that it is expanding its Franklin, WI, operations by 4,000-sq.-ft.

Walmart will add a Neighborhood Market in Myrtle Beach, SC; Lake Charles, LA; Mobile, AL; and Omaha, NE. It also added 77,000-sq. ft. to its planned perishable grocery distribution center in Alamance County, NC.

Whole Foods will hold a grand opening for its store at Westfield Countryside Mall in Clearwater, FL, on 9/24/2014.

Trader Joe’s will open a location in Delray Beach, Pembroke Pines, Palm Beach Gardens, Ft. Lauderdale, and Boca Raton, FL.

Green Initiatives:

H-E-B is showcasing its seafood sustainability efforts with a new website and a partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund.