| Type | Public (NYSE: SVU) S&P 500 Component |
|---|---|
| Industry | Grocery |
| Founded | Minneapolis, Minnesota (1926) |
| Headquarters | Eden Prairie, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Area served | United States |
| Key people | Jeff Noddle, Chairman Craig Herkert CEO |
| Products | supermarkets, pharmacies, food |
| Revenue | USD $44.048 Billion (2008) |
| Operating income | USD $1.684 Billion (2008) |
| Net income | USD $593 Million (2008) |
| Total assets | USD $21.062 Billion (2008) |
| Total equity | USD $5.953 Billion (2008) |
| Employees | 192,000[1] |
| Website |
SuperValu.com |
SuperValu Inc. (NYSE: SVU) is a United States grocery retailer and distributor. The corporation, headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota,[2] has been in business for over a century. It is the third-largest food retailing company in the United States (after Kroger and Safeway), and ranks #51 on the Fortune 100 list.[3]
On June 2, 2006, Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons, Inc. and 1,124 of its stores were sold to SuperValu. The sale was approved by the shareholders of both SuperValu and Albertsons on May 30, 2006.
Supermarket News ranked SuperValu #1 in the 2008 "Top Wholesalers for 2008".[4]
Contents |
In 1870, Hugh G. Harrison provided the money for B.S. Bull and Company, a dry goods wholesaler serving Minneapolis, Minnesota. Though B.S. Bull and Company was short lived, its founders went on to create a similar company. In 1926, SuperValu's direct ancestor, Winston and Newell Company, was founded from the merger of Winston, Harper and Fisher and the Newell Company, two companies founded by B. S. Bull's backers.
Winston and Newell was a charter member of the Independent Grocers Alliance in 1928, but left IGA in 1942 in favor of forming a "virtual chain" of independently owned stores that operated under the Super Valu and U-Save banners. However, it still serves as a supplier to many IGA stores. This concept proved to be such a success that in 1952, the company changed its name to Super Valu Inc. The name was modified to SuperValu in 1992.
The company has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since 1967, and was the first voluntary group to be listed there.
In 1971, the discount chain Shopko was acquired by SuperValu, Inc., and was spun-off in 1991 to form a separate, publicly traded company. SuperValu retained a 46% interest in the new company, which Shopko later purchased in 1997.
In 1975, SuperValu acquired Hornbacher's.
In 1980, the company acquired Minnesota-based Cub Foods, which operated five stores in the Twin Cities area. As of 2011, Cub is operating more than 40 stores in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois.
In the early 1990s, SuperValu started acquiring several chains such as Scott's Food & Pharmacy in 1991, Wetterau, Inc. and its holdings Shop 'n Save and Save-A-Lot in 1992, and bigg's in 1994.
In 1999, SuperValu acquired Richfood Holdings for $1.5 billion dollars, adding a mid-atlantic distribution presence and stores including Farm Fresh Food & Pharmacy, Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, and Metro.
On January 23, 2006, SuperValu announced that it, along with CVS Corporation and a collection of investors led by Cerberus Group, agreed to acquire Albertsons Inc. for $9.7 billion. The acquisition was completed on June 2, 2006.
SuperValu acquired over 2150 stores in the deal including:
Today, SuperValu operates 2,505 food and food/drug combination stores, 878 in-store pharmacies, 117 fuel centers and serves as primary distributor to an additional 2,200 stores.
SuperValu also supplies a network of independent retailers (often found in smaller cities) that sometimes use the SuperValu name. However, these stores are not owned by the company. SuperValu also franchises the Cub Foods and Save-A-Lot brand to independent retailers.
Recently, former Walmart executive Craig Herkert took over for Jeff Noddle as CEO of SuperValu.[5]
On January 6, 2011, SuperValu announced it would close 20 underperforming stores on the East and West coasts as it attempts to save money by allowing corporate and office employees to take unpaid time off.[6] The company, despite being profitable, is facing financial problems due to a weak economy, tight margins, falling revenue and asset values. On January 11, 2011, SuperValu has reported a loss of $202 million for the quarter, and revenue also fell 6% to $8.67 billion. Stock prices fell 12 percent to $7.52 per share.[7] The company operates on a strategy of effective and efficient food distribution. The Company conducts its Retail food operations through a total of 2,349 retail food stores and are supplied by 23 dedicated distribution centers and 9 distribution centers.[8]
As a supplier to IGA stores for over 80 years, SuperValu necessarily has formed close relationships with these family-owned grocery businesses, some of which have had relationships with the corporation for over two or three generations. But Walmart's newly arrived grocery competition to these stores also affects SuperValu, Inc. In addition, SuperValu is selling its Shop 'n Save stores in the Pittsburgh market as a result of being unable to compete with Walmart and fast-growing local chain Giant Eagle. Most will be sold to independent owners, and continue to operate under the Shop 'n Save banner. SuperValu will continue to supply all area FoodLand, Save-A-Lot and the independent Shop 'n Save locations of western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia.
SuperValu enjoys economies of scale when dealing with the well-known national food firms like Kraft Foods, General Mills, Kellogg's, the beer manufacturers, meat suppliers, produce suppliers and dairy suppliers, as well as the health and beauty product suppliers, by purchasing in bulk and then distributing the goods by Direct Store Delivery from its distribution centers, which are located nationwide.
The ethnic foods market is an emerging sector and remains a challenge for this business, as well as the natural and organic foods sector, as there are no clear market leaders for the corporation to deal with in these sectors. It remains to be seen whether SuperValu's tradition of dealing with small grocery businesses can be extended to these emerging markets.
SuperValu brands include:
"Arctic Shores," "Baby Basics," "Carlita," "Culinary Circle," "Equaline," "Farm Fresh," "Farm Stand," "Flavorite," "WholeCare Pet," "Homelife," "Java Delight," "Max Velocity," "NutriPlan," "Richfood," "Shoppers Value," "Stockman & Dakota," "Stone Ridge Creamery," "SuperChill," "SuperCrunch," and "Wild Harvest"
SuperValu also owns two third-party logistics firms, Advantage Logistics and Total Logistic Control. In 2005, SuperValu launched a specialty produce company, W. Newell & Company which is headquartered in Champaign, Illinois.
As of 2006, SuperValu has a leading market share position in several markets where it has operations.
The company operates under multiple retail banners, or chains:
Many of the banners have "private labels".
These are the current active private label brands for SuperValu:
Some of the older inactive private label brands are: Sav-on Osco by Albertsons · Good Day · A+ · Master's Choice · Janet Lee · Lady Lee · President's Choice · Hillfarm · Economy Buy · Home Best · Essensia · Chateau . Quality Plus . Elf
SuperValu received a 100% rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign starting in 2008.[9]
SuperValu sponsors employee resource groups globally for black, GLBT, Latino, young, handicapped, and other minorities.[10]
Cub Foods and its parent company, SuperValu, was the first grocer in Minnesota to be awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold NC2.2 Certification for one of its stores. The Cub store, located in the Phalen neighborhood of St. Paul, is one of just three grocery stores in the nation to successfully achieve LEED Gold Certification.[11]
Albertsons was the first major retailer to earn a LEED Certification on their remodeled La Habra store.[12] It features water saving faucets, over 40 skylights, "Night" curtains over open cold cases and LED lighting.
In August 2009, SuperValu was recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for achieving their emissions target.[13]
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||