Personnel Updates
• Bashas’ Inc. (62) has named Barry Craft VP of Marketing, Merchandising and Procurement. He will replace Phil Hawkes, who is retiring.
• Golub Corporation (81) has named Brian Haaraoja CEO and President. He succeeds Peter Ciacco, who will retire in mid-April. The company also announced Casie Broker has been promoted to Chief Marketing Officer.
• The Kroger Co. (273) announced the promotion of Gary Millerchip to the role of Senior VP and CFO, as well as the retirement of Exec VP and CFO Mike Schlotman at the end of 2019. Schlotman will remain CFO until April 3, after which he will stay on as Exec VP and a member of the senior leadership team until Dec. 28.
• Publix Super Markets Inc. (302) announced John Attaway, Senior VP, General Counsel and Secretary, will retire on May 31. At that time, Merriann Metz will be promoted to the position of VP, General Counsel and Secretary.
Mergers and Acquisitions
• Casey’s General Stores Inc. has acquired the Fantasy’s convenience stores and Ride the Wave car washes in the Omaha, NE, metropolitan area.
• Giant Food Stores LLC announced that it will acquire five Shop ‘n Save locations from Supervalu. The five stores will temporarily close on March 27 to begin converting them to Martin’s Food Markets.
• Performance Food Group announced a definitive agreement to acquire Eby-Brown Company.
Industry Insight
• Albertsons LLC has renewed its supply agreement with KeHE Distributors as its primary distributor.
• Brookshire Grocery Co. has now rolled out its Brookshire’s Curbside service to 99 more stores.
• Delek U.S. Holdings Inc. and 7-Eleven Inc. have terminated their licensing agreement.
• The Kroger Co. is selling its Turkey Hill dairy business to an affiliate of Peak Rock Capital, an Austin, Texas-based private-equity firm.
• Enmarket Stations Inc. recently opened its largest convenience store yet. The 6,366 sq. ft. location in Pooler, GA features the chain’s first ever drive-thru window.
• RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. recently launched its new franchise program, RT Franchising Inc.
• Southeastern Grocers has launched online grocery delivery via Shipt at its Fresco y Más supermarket chain in Florida. Shipt same-day delivery is now available at all 26 Fresco y Más stores in South Florida, Tampa and Orlando.
• Whole Foods Market Inc. announced it plans to convert all of its existing 365 stores into regular Whole Foods stores by the end of this year.
Real Estate
• Food Lion LLC revealed that it will remodel 92 stores in the greater Myrtle Beach, Florence, Columbia and Charleston, S.C., markets in 2019.
• McLane Company, Inc. has opened a new 400,000 sq. ft. distribution center in Ocala, FL.
• Mother’s Market & Kitchen is continuing its expansion with a new location in Manhattan Beach, the company’s ninth store.
• Southeast Petro announced it is opening the first Amoco-branded site in Florida.
• Southeastern Grocers announced it plans to close 22 Bi-Lo, Winn-Dixie and Harveys supermarkets.
• Vintage Grocers closed two of its three locations in California. A store in Thousand Oaks and its newly opened location in Pacific Palisades were closed. The company’s original location in Malibu remains open.
• WinCo Foods LLC has entered its 10th state with the opening of two stores in Montana. The locations will be located in Helena and Billings, and each will measure roughly 84,000 sq. ft.
• Wegmans Food Markets Inc. announced plans to open its first store in Delaware.
• Whole Foods Market Inc. announced it will soon open its 500th store. On April 5 the company plans to open a 70,000 sq. ft., multilevel store in midtown Atlanta, GA.
Technology News
• Associated Food Stores is partnering with CB4 to use artificial intelligence to improve the store experience.
• The Kroger Co. is introducing Kroger Pay, a mobile payment solution that combines a customer’s payment and loyalty card information. Kroger Pay recently launched in the retailer’s Columbus, Ohio division. The service will roll out to 10 additional markets in the spring, with plans to go nationwide later this year.
• The Kroger Co. is expanding an autonomous grocery delivery partnership with autonomous vehicle manufacturer Nuro from Arizona to Texas.
• Meijer Inc. is rolling out its Shop & Scan to additional stores. The mobile shopping checkout program is now available in 23 stores throughout Chicago and Northwest Indiana.
• Pilot Flying J has launched its Fleet Center, its new virtual maintenance system as part of the company’s Truck Care service platform.
Just because we don’t mention it here doesn’t mean it didn’t happen – or we didn’t capture it. In the past four weeks, we’ve updated more than 2,621 companies in the Supermarket, Grocery, & Convenience Stores PLUS Database, with many of those companies’ records updated at multiple points.
