C&S Wholesale Grocers, LLC is a national wholesale grocery supply company in the United States, based in Keene, New Hampshire. In 2021 it was the eighth-largest privately held company in the United States, as listed by Forbes.[3] C&S operates and supports corporate grocery stores and serves independent franchisees under a chain-style model throughout the Midwest, South and Northeast. C&S owns the Piggly Wiggly grocery brand, which is independently franchised to store operators, the Grand Union supermarkets brand, as well as several private label brands, including Best Yet.[4][5]
As of 2023, C&S serviced over 7,500 independent supermarkets, chain stores, military bases and institutions with over 100,000 different products, including produce, meat, dairy products, delicatessen products, fresh/frozen bakery items, health and beauty aids, candy, and tobacco.[2][3][6]
C&S was founded by Israel Cohen and Abraham Siegel in 1918 in Worcester, Massachusetts. It began as a small grocery distribution center in a three-story building on Winter Street. In 1929 the original building flooded, prompting a move to a new, larger location on Hygeia Street. In the 1940s, as the popularity of supermarkets grew, C&S made several improvements to their distribution process, including a warehouse "roller system" and staffing trucks with one employee who acts as driver and salesman, thus cutting delivery costs in half.[8]
C&S grew dramatically in 1958 after it began serving supermarket chain Big D in Worcester.[9]
In the 1970s, the founder's grandson, Rick Cohen, joined the company. C&S then built and moved into a 300,000-square-foot (28,000m2) warehouse in Brattleboro, Vermont. With the move, it began serving several supermarket chains, including A&P.[9]
In 1987, Rick Cohen became president and CEO of C&S and was concerned if the company would be able to withstand the upcoming holiday season; deliberating if operations would be able to meet the needs of all customers and at the same time maintain the high level of customer satisfaction that they were known for throughout New England. Some challenges with acquiring stores, such as A&P, included higher operational costs, shrinking margins, customer relationship management, and quality control. In 1988, Rick Cohen met these challenges by implementing the concept of self-managed teams.[10]
In 2013, C&S entered into a partnership with BI-LO to provide warehousing, distribution, and procurement services for Winn-Dixie stores. As a result, C&S began to operate six existing Winn-Dixie distribution centers in the Southeast of the United States.[11] In September 2014, C&S entered into an asset purchase agreement with Associated Wholesalers Inc (AWI), thus allowing C&S to acquire nearly all of their assets.[12] In the same year, C&S completed purchase of Grocers Supply in Houston.[13] In 2015, the company acquired FreshKO Produce Services, Inc., in California.[14]
Some C&S warehouses use an automated storage and retrieval system for grocery dry goods made by Symbotic, LLC, an American robotics warehouse automation company also owned by Rick Cohen.[15]
Retail operations
Grand Union
In 2001, C&S moved into retail as it acquired the Grand Union supermarket chain. It was Grand Union's largest unsecured creditor when Grand Union declared bankruptcy, making a stalking horse offer.[16] It sold the chain to Tops Markets in 2012. In 2021, C&S agreed to purchase 12 Tops stores in New York and Vermont following their merger with Price Chopper due to FTC regulations, with the stores to reopen under the new name in January–February 2022.[17]
In July 2012, all 57 Southern Family-owned locations in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida were sold to Belle Foods. C&S would continue as Belle Foods’ main distributor until Belle Foods was liquidated in September 2013 and purchased by Associated Wholesale Grocers.[20][21]
Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co.
In October 2014, C&S acquired the operations of Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co., which included branding, marketing, store support, accounting, and IT services, for $9.3 million, while the 20 corporately owned Piggly Wiggly Carolina stores were to be sold to independent operators. As of August 2015, there were two corporately owned locations with 46 independently owned locations.[22][23]
Nell's
C&S acquired Associated Wholesalers (AWI) in 2014. AWI owned the grocery chain Nell's, which had four locations at the time of the sale.[24] C&S sold three locations and continues to operate a store in Spry, Pennsylvania.[25][26][27]
Olean Wholesale Grocery
C&S announced its acquisition of Olean Wholesale Grocery, which had previously operated as a cooperative of its member grocers in upstate New York and Pennsylvania, in late 2019. Shortly after the purchase closed, C&S announced the closure of the facility.[28]
Possible purchase of Kroger/Albertsons stores
On September 8, 2023, C&S agreed to purchase 413 stores, multiple banners, eight distribution centers, two regional offices, and five private label brands across 17 states and the District of Columbia as part of the previously announced merger of Kroger and Albertsons on October 14, 2022. This purchase is contingent on the Federal Trade Commission's approval of the said merger. Also as part of this agreement, C&S may be asked to purchase an additional 237 stores in order for merger to gain approval.[29] After a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction barring the merger on December 10, 2024, the merger was called off by Albertsons, negating the deal. [30]
Litigation
In January 2009, lawsuits were filed in federal courts in Wisconsin and New Hampshire alleging that C&S and SuperValu engaged in collusion to allocate markets and reduce competition. In 2018, a federal jury cleared C&S of the charges.[31][32]
Ralphs is an American supermarket chain in Southern California. The largest subsidiary of Cincinnati-based Kroger, it is the oldest such chain west of the Mississippi River. Kroger also operates stores under the Food 4 Less and Foods Co. names in California.
Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., styled as Winn✓Dixie, is an American supermarket chain headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It operates more than 546 stores in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. The company has had its present name since 1955 and can trace its roots back to 1925.
Carrs–Safeway is a supermarket chain that is based in Anchorage, Alaska, and is a subsidiary of Albertsons. It was acquired in April 1999 by former parent Safeway from an employee ownership group, who itself had purchased the company from founder Larry Carr and his partner Barney Gottstein in 1990.
Piggly Wiggly is an American supermarket chain operating in the American Southern and Midwestern regions run by Piggly Wiggly, LLC, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers. Its first outlet opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee, and is notable as the first true self-service grocery store, and the originator of various familiar supermarket features, such as checkout stands, individual item price marking and shopping carts. The company headquarters is in Keene, New Hampshire. As of 2024, 503 independently owned Piggly Wiggly stores currently operate across 18 states, primarily in smaller cities and towns.
Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops and fuel centers. It is a subsidiary of Albertsons after being acquired by private equity investors led by Cerberus Capital Management in January 2015. Safeway's primary base of operations is in the Western United States, with some stores located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern Seaboard. The subsidiary is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.
SuperValu, Inc., was an American wholesaler and retailer of grocery products. The company, formerly headquartered in the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, had been in business since 1926. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Natural Foods (UNFI).
Shaw's and Star Market are two American supermarket chains under united management based in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, employing about 30,000 associates in 150 total stores; 129 stores are operated under the Shaw's banner in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, while Star Market operates 21 stores in Massachusetts, most of which are in or near Boston. Until 2010, Shaw's operated stores in all six New England states, and as of 2021 Shaw's remained the only supermarket chain with stores in five of the six, after it sold its Connecticut operations. The chain's largest competitors are Hannaford, Market Basket, Price Chopper, Roche Bros., Wegmans, and Stop & Shop. Star Market is a companion store to Shaw's, Shaw's having purchased the competing chain in 1999.
The Nash Finch Company was an American food distribution and retail company based in Edina, Minnesota. Nash Finch was involved in food distribution to private companies, primarily independent supermarkets, and military commissaries and the operation of retail stores. At the time of its 2013 merger with Spartan Stores, Nash Finch was the second largest publicly traded wholesale food distributor in the United States, in terms of revenue, with $5.21 billion in annual sales; Nash Finch was also a Fortune 500 company.
Grand Union Supermarkets, later known as Grand Union Family Markets and often referred to simply as Grand Union, is an American chain of grocery stores that does business in upstate New York and Vermont, and used to do business throughout most of the northeastern United States. It operated stores in other areas of the country, including the midwestern and southeastern states, and internationally in the Caribbean and Canada. The company was founded and headquartered in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and moved to Brooklyn, New York, in the early 20th century. Grand Union moved again to Elmwood Park, New Jersey, and finally to Wayne, New Jersey, before the company was forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2001 and sold to C&S Wholesale Grocers.
Lucky Stores are a pair of American supermarket chains plus a defunct historical chain. The original chain was founded in San Leandro, California and operated from 1935 until 1999. The Lucky brand was revived circa 2007 and is now operated as two distinct chains: Albertsons operates Lucky in Utah and Save Mart Supermarkets operates Lucky California in Northern California.
Southern Family Markets, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, was a chain of American supermarkets owned and operated by C&S Wholesale Grocers, a distributor based in Keene, New Hampshire. The chain was operated as an affiliate of C&S. Southern Family Markets had operated a varying number of supermarkets and 10 liquor stores under the banners Southern Family Markets, Piggly Wiggly, Bruno's, and Food World. The liquor stores, all located along the gulf coast, were called SFM Liquors.
Food 4 Less is the name of several grocery store chains, the largest of which is currently owned by Kroger. It is a no-frills grocery store where the customers bag their own groceries at the checkout. Kroger operates Food 4 Less stores in the Chicago metropolitan area and in Southern California. Kroger operates their stores as Foods Co. in northern and central California, including Bakersfield and the Central Coast, because they do not have the rights to the Food 4 Less name in those areas. Other states, such as Nevada, formerly contained Kroger-owned Food 4 Less stores.
Bruno's Supermarkets, LLC was an American chain of grocery stores with its headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama.
Roundy's Supermarkets is an American supermarket operator. It owns and operates stores under the names of Pick 'n Save, Metro Market, and Mariano's Fresh Market. The chain is a subsidiary of Kroger. Roundy's operates 149 supermarkets and 107 pharmacies throughout the states of Wisconsin and Illinois. Based on fiscal year 2012 sales, Roundy's was the 37th largest grocery store chain and the 89th largest retailer in the United States. As of December 2015, Roundy's became a subsidiary of Kroger of Cincinnati, Ohio.
BI-LO was an American supermarket chain owned by Southeastern Grocers, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. At the time of the banner’s elimination, supermarkets under the BI-LO brand were operated in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
Homeland is a supermarket chain in the United States. Homeland is the main supermarket banner of Homeland Acquisition Corporation, the supermarket banner's parent company, and the names are often used interchangeably. Homeland's headquarters is in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. As of 2019, it operates 79 supermarkets in Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia and Texas. Many of H.A.C., Inc.'s supermarkets also include pharmacies and fuel centers. In 2019, Homeland purchased the remaining Oklahoma Food Pyramid stores from Rogersville, Missouri based Pyramid Foods which owns Price Cutter and Ramey.
Smart & Final is a chain of warehouse-style food and supply stores based in Commerce, California, which developed through a series of mergers and expansions. The oldest of the combined companies, Hellman-Haas Grocery, was founded in 1871 in Los Angeles. The company operates over 250 stores in the Western United States and 15 in northwestern Mexico.
Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co. was a franchise of the Piggly Wiggly chain of supermarkets, based in South Carolina in the United States. The company entered a process of disposal of assets and dissolution in 2014.
Belle Foods, LLC was a family-owned chain of American supermarkets headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. The company had a relatively short lifespan. It began operating its rebranded Bruno's and Food World and Piggly Wiggly Stores on July 1, 2012, but filed for bankruptcy just one year later. Before owners Bill White and Jeff White purchased the stores from Southern Family Markets in mid-2012, the 57-store grocery chain employed approximately 3,000 people.
Southeastern Grocers was an American supermarket portfolio headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. The portfolio was created by Lone Star Funds in September 2013 as the new parent company for Harveys, Winn-Dixie, and Fresco y Más.
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