SpartanNash

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SpartanNash
Type Public
Traded as NASDAQ: SPTN
Industry Retail (Grocery)
Founded 1917
Headquarters Byron Township, Michigan
Key people Dennis Eidson, President and CEO
Craig Sturken, Executive Chairman
Products Private label grocery brands, Distributor, Grocery Store Management and Operation
Website www.spartannash.com

SpartanNash is an American food distributor and grocery store chain headquartered in Byron Township, Michigan.[1][2] In terms of revenue, it is the largest food distributor serving military commissaries and exchanges in the United States. The Company’s core businesses include distributing food to military commissaries, independent grocers, and corporate-owned retail stores in 44 states, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. SpartanNash operates 177 retail stores.[3]

History

See also: Nash Finch Company

The chain was founded in 1917 as the Grand Rapids Wholesale Grocery Company. The present name has been used since 1957. For most of its history, Spartan was a cooperative. Spartan changed to "for profit" in the 1970s and was first traded on the NASDAQ in August 2000.

In 2005, Spartan Stores, Inc. entered into a purchase agreement to acquire certain operating assets of D&W Food Centers, Inc.[4]

Expansion Into Retail

Spartan's retail operations started as independent grocery chains. However, in 1999, it bought the Family Fare, Great Day, Glen's, Ashcraft's, and Prevo's supermarket chains from their respective owners. To simplify advertising, the brands were consolidated into two: Family Fare in the south and Glen's in the north, each being the majority in its respective region.

Family Fare and Glen's now use the same advertising package: "Closer. Faster. Friendlier. You're in the (store name) neighborhood."

Spartan delivery truck, Romulus, Michigan

In 2000, Spartan Stores merged with the Seaway Food Town company whose operations included 47 Food Town Supermarkets and 26 The Pharm deep-discount drugstores. After the merger, the Food Town stores operated under their own banners, but heavy competition in areas where Food Town and The Pharm operated meant lower margins, and these stores proved to be a drag on the merged company's resources. Between 2000 and 2003, the company closed or sold eight Food Town Supermarkets and five The Pharm drugstores. In 2003, with an unmanageable debt load, Spartan Stores announced that they were selling or closing all the 39 remaining Food Town stores and restructuring the company.

In December 2005, Spartan Stores announced plans to purchase D&W Food Centers. The transaction officially became complete at the end of March 2006. Ten of the twenty stores purchased retained the D&W banner, six others were converted to the Family Fare banner, and the remaining four; Northtown, Norton Shores, Walker, and Zeeland were closed permanently.

In 2006, the company acquired through liquidation, five defunct Carter's Foods the fates of which have not been determined. Felpausch of Hastings, Michigan was acquired in 2007. The company has since renovated one former store, in Williamston, Michigan, to the D&W Fresh Market banner and several others to the Family Fare banner. The future banners of the remaining Felpausch stores remains unannounced.

In April 2008, Spartan announced that "certain assets" from 12 of the 14 remaining Pharm stores will be sold to Rite Aid. The remaining two stores will be sold in separate transactions. At this point, it is unclear which stores will remain open or if the name will be changed. The sale was finalized in late May 2008.

In October 2008, it was announced that Spartan would be purchasing the VGs Grocery and Pharmacy stores in Michigan.

In late January 2011, another Felpausch store, this time located in Grand Ledge, Michigan, was converted to a Family Fare store.

Spartan Stores announced its acquisition of Nash Finch Company in 2013.[5]

Grocery Retail Stores

Prior to 2013

Glen's Markets
  • Family Fare Supermarkets: 55 stores (41 Pharmacies and 20 Quick Stops) in Michigan, company purchased in March 1999.
  • Glen's Markets: 11 stores (4 Pharmacies and 1 Quick Stops) in Northern Michigan, company purchased in May 1999. All locations are being re-branded as Family Fare.
  • D&W Fresh Market: 10 stores (9 Pharmacies and 3 Quick Stops) in Michigan, company purchase announced in December 2005 and completed in March 2006.
  • VG's Grocery: 14 stores (13 Pharmacies and 3 Quick Stops) in Eastern Michigan, company purchased in December 2008. VG's was previously Spartan's largest independent distribution customer. In 2009, a location in New Baltimore closed. Locations in Burton, Shelby Township and West Flint closed in December 2013. [6]
  • Valu Land: 6 stores (3 Pharmacies).
  • Forest Hills Foods

2013 Nash Finch Merger

With the Spartan Stores and Nash Finch Company merger finalized in November 2013 the following stores where added:

  • Econofoods: 9 locations in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
  • Family Fresh Market: 1 location in Minnesota.
  • Family Thrift Center: 4 locations in South Dakota.
  • No Frills Supermarkets & Bag'n Save: 29 locations in Iowa and Nebraska.
  • Pick'n Save: 1 location in Ohio.
  • Prairie Market: 1 location in South Dakota.
  • Sun Mart Foods: 19 locations in Nebraska, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Colorado.
  • Supermercado Nuestra Familia: 2 locations in Nebraska.
  • Wholesale Food Outlet: 1 location in Iowa.

Former Grocery Retail Stores

  • Food Town: 45 Supermarkets in Ohio and Southeast Michigan acquired, along with 14 The Pharm drugstores from the Seaway Foodtown company of Maumee, Ohio in August 2000. These stores were originally operated under their acquired name, but in 2003, Spartan Stores announced that they were selling or closing all the Foodtown stores and dropping the Foodtown name from their roster of brands. Seventeen of the stores were sold to the Kroger Company; nine to independent operators and 13 were closed.
  • The Pharm: Thirteen stores (pharmacies) in Ohio, and one store (pharmacy), in Southeast Michigan 26 The Pharm stores were owned and operated by Seaway Foodtown at the time of the Seaway Food Town/Spartan merger. Over the years, many stores closed and the last 14 were sold in 2008: 12 stores to Rite-Aid; and 2 stores to independent operators.
  • Felpausch Food Centers: Purchased in early 2007. Spartan re-branded all the Felpausch locations except Kimball as D&W or Family Fare.

Private Brands

  • b∙lēve
  • Full Circle
  • me too!
  • Nash Brothers Trading Company
  • Our Family
  • PAWS Premium
  • Spartan Brand
  • Spartan Fresh Selections
  • TopCare
  • Valu Time
  • World Classics

Finance

In December 2005, Spartan Stores' board of directors approved a change to the Company's dividend policy, which allowed the company to pay a quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per common share beginning in its fiscal 2006 fourth quarter.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Contact Us." Spartan Stores. Retrieved on July 13, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Byron township, Kent County, Michigan." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on July 13, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Company Profile". SpartanNash. Retrieved 2014-01-15. 
  4. ↑ "Spartan Stores, Inc. Enters Into Purchase Agreement with D&W Food Centers". 
  5. ↑ "Nash Finch to be sold to Spartan Stores in $1.3B deal". StarTribune. Retrieved 2014-01-15. 
  6. ↑ " Spartan Stores permanently closing locations. Retrieved on November 16, 2003.
  7. ↑ "Spartan Stores Board of Directors Approves Change in Dividend Policy". 

External links

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