Personnel Updates
Albertsons/Safeway announced that it named Mark Panzer as Senior VP of Pharmacy, Health and Wellness.
Associated Wholesale Grocers announced that: Bob Pickerill will become Senior VP and Manager of the Kansas City Division, Linda Lawson will become Senior VP and Manager of the Fort Worth Division, Tye Anthony will become VP of Sales and Marketing for the Fort Worth Division, and Terry Roberts will become VP of Sales and Merchandising of the Nashville Division.
Fiesta Mart has appointed Michael Byars as the company’s newest CEO.
Golub Corporation announced that William Hull will join the company as Director of Network Engineering and Operations.
Smart & Final promoted Scott Drew to Exec VP of Operations.
Stop & Shop announced that Vinod Israni is being promoted to Regional VP for Region 1, Mark McGowan is now serving as President of the Stop & Shop New England Division and Executive VP of Operations for Ahold USA, and Stacy Wiggins will be promoted to Senior VP of Operations for Stop & Shop New England Division.
Sam Susser stepped down as Chairman of the Sunoco LP Board of Directors.
Walmart promoted Mike Moore to Exec VP of Supercenters Division and Julie Murphy to Exec VP of Walmart’s Neighborhood Market Division.
Weis Markets promoted Brent Mertes to Regional VP and Richard Gunn as Senior VP of Merchandising and Marketing.
Industry Insight
Empire Petroleum Partners LP filed a registration statement with the SEC for an initial public offering (IPO) of its common units.
Hy-Vee announced that it is adding delivery and in-store grocery pick up options.
Kum & Go LC has begun offering E15 as a fuel option. Over the next two years it plans to make E15 available at more than 65 stores across Iowa, Nebraska, Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
Weis Markets plans to invest $92 million on new stores, renovations, information technology systems, and supply chain.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Brookshire Brothers will sell 26 Polks Pick-It-Up Convenience stores to Partners Investors C-stores Ltd.
Fiesta Mart has been acquired from C&S Wholesale Grocers by Acon Investments.
Kroger Co. announced that it will acquire all seven of the Hiller’s Markets stores.
Sobeys signed an agreement to buy most of the corporate food and gas retail stores and wholesale assets of Co-op Atlantic. This is a network of about 170 supermarkets and convenience stores that operate under the banners Co-op, Valufoods, Village Mart and Rite Stop.
Southwest Georgia Oil Co. Inc. has closed on the acquisition of the 44-store S&S Food Stores chain from Scaff’s Inc. The company plans to maintain the S&S c-store brand, only switching from BP to Marathon fuel at several locations.
TravelCenters of America LLC has acquired 19 gas station c-stores in Missouri and Kansas from GasMart USA for $27 million.
Real Estate
Ahold USA is reportedly seeking to eventually open eight stores throughout Philadelphia, PA. The stores would be between 10,000 and 20,000 sq. – ft.
The Albertsons in Clearwater, FL, will close at the end of May. The three remaining Albertsons stores in Florida will be renovated.
Aldi Inc. will open its 20th and 21st local stores in Houston, TX, and a store in Cottage Grove, MN.
Big Y Foods Inc. opened its first Big Y Express Gas & Convenience Store in Pittsfield, MA.
Casey’s General Store will open a location in Wichita, KS.
Costco will open a location in Wichita, KS.
C&S Wholesale Grocers will close three New Jersey food distribution centers it from Associated Wholesalers Inc.
The Fresh Market opened a store in Turtle Creek, TX; a store in Fayetteville, NC; and will open a store in Charlotte, NC.
Harris Teeter opened a 53,000 sq. –ft. store in Winston-Salem, MA.
Kroger Co. opened a Ruler Foods in St. Louis, MO, and will open a Kroger Marketplace in Houston, TX, in December. It also announced that it plans to open eleven locations in Indianapolis, IN, and to remodel 22 stores.
Kwik Trip Inc. plans to open a series of new Wisconsin stores in the cities of: Pleasant Prairie, Kenosha, Racine, Oak Creek, New Berlin, Sussex, Menomonee Falls, West Bend, Mukwonago, Saukville, Sheboygan, and Waukesha. The company also announced that it plans to add approximately 40 stores per year.
Lowes Foods will add 10 more Beer Dens to its renovated locations.
Meijer opened stores in Manistee and Alpena, MI.
Mrs. Green’s Natural Market will open a location in Winnetka, IL.
Piggly Wiggly will open a location in Crestline Village, AL.
Safeway is closing nine locations across Denver, CO.
Save-A-Lot plans to open a new location in Dayton, OH; Columbia, SC; and Charlotte, NC.
Smart & Final plans to open five new Smart & Final Extra! Stores, complete four conversions of legacy Smart & Final stores to the Extra! format, open 16 new Smart & Final Extra! stores in the next year, and relocate two other stores.
Sprouts Farmers Market opened a location in Lakeland, TN, and San Jose, CA.
Stop & Shop opened a 36,000 sq.-ft. store in Nantucket, MA.
Target will open a TargetExpress location in Chicago, IL.
Trader Joe’s plans to open a store in both Houston and Austin, TX.
United Natural Foods, Inc. announced that it plans to open a 450,000 sq.-ft. distribution center in Gilroy, CA in August.
Walmart will open a Neighborhood Market in Bradenton, FL, and Morgonton, NC. The company also announced that it will acquire former 13 Target Canada stores and one distribution center.
Wawa will open its first store featuring indoor seating in Philadelphia, PA.
Wegmans Food Markets will open a location in Brooklyn, NY.
Whole Foods will open a location in Washington Township, OH.
WinCo Foods will open its 100th store on Thursday in Lewisville, TX.
Green Initiatives
Giant Eagle plans to reduce water consumption by 5 percent by July 2017, resulting in an anticipated conservation of millions of gallons of water. All corporately operated Giant Eagle supermarkets will be retrofitted with water conservation equipment by June 30.
Stop & Shop announced it has broken ground on an anaerobic digester that will turn food scraps into energy at its distribution center in Freetown, MA.
