Nash Finch Company

Last updated

The Nash Finch Company was a Fortune 500 company based in Edina, Minnesota, United States. The company was involved in food distribution to private companies, primarily independent supermarkets, and military commissaries; and the operation of retail stores.

Contents

Spartan Stores announced its acquisition of Nash Finch in a $1.3 billion stock-swap in 2013. [1]

History

The origins of the Nash Finch Company go back to 1885 when Fred Nash opened a small candy and tobacco shop in the Dakota Territory town of Devils Lake. Soon, Nash opened another store with his two brothers in Grand Forks, North Dakota. [2] Edgar and Willis, the brothers, joined Fred in opening in the late 1880s a fruit distribution business. [3] In 1899, the brothers added Harry Finch as an employee to sort lemons. [2] The brother in 1904 made their first acquisition of a wholesale distributor in Minot, N.D., while Finch head up a Grand Forks, N.D. warehouse. Additional expansions occurs through 1912. [3] A partnership was started with produce brokerage C.H. Robinson Company, which the company took control of. In 1919, the company moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. [2]

The brothers expanded into distribution with operations in Texas and California and had over 60 companies by 1921. In that year, the brother's companies were incorporated into the Nash Finch corporation. [2] In 1922, the company starts selling Nash's Toasted Coffee and other products. [3] Finch was appointed president in 1926. The company started its store brand, Our Family, in the 1930s. [2]

In the 1950s, Nash Finch expanded its customer list to include corporate-owned chains to their existing independent mom-and-pop grocers. A 17-store supermarket chain was purchased in 1954. In St. Cloud, Minn., the company in 1964 starts Warehouse Market, a warehouse-style store. [3]

In 1976, C.H. Robinson employees bought out Nash Finch becoming an employee owned company. [2] Nash Finch is listed on the Nasdaq in 1983. The company bought M.H. McLean, a North Carolina-based. Thus expanding into the southeastern United States in 1984. [3]

A Hispanic-themed grocery, Avanza, is opened by the company in 2002, while organic foods Family Fresh Market store is opened ind 2008. Three distribution centers are acquired by the military division in 2009. Two chains, No Frills stores and Bag 'N Save, were purchased in 2012 with 18 and 12 stores respectively. [3]

Recent

In 2013, Spartan Stores and Nash Finch merged and formed SpartanNash company. The official name change was to occur May 2014, while continuing to operate as Spartan Stores, Nash Finch and MDV in their prior markets. [4] Under terms of the $1.3 billion deal, each Nash share would convert to 1.2 shares of Spartan Stock. Spartan retained 57.7% of the combined company while Nash owns 42.3% of the approximately 38 million outstanding stock shares. Integration and transaction closing-related costs of approximately $17 million to $18 million will be recorded in the quarter ending December 28, 2013. [5]

Operations

Nash Finch Company, headquartered in Edina, Minnesota (a Minneapolis suburb), was the second largest publicly traded wholesale food distributor in the United States, in terms of revenue, serving the retail grocery industry and the military commissary and exchange systems. Annual sales were approximately $5.21 billion.

The Company distributed food products and provides support services to a variety of retail formats including conventional supermarkets, military commissaries, multicultural stores and extreme value stores.

Nash Finch Company's core business, food distribution, served independent retailers and military commissaries in 36 states, the District of Columbia, Europe, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Azores and Egypt. [6]

Nash Finch also operated retail stores under the banners Avanza Supermarket, Bag 'N Save, Econofoods, Family Fresh Market, Family Thrift Center, No Frills Supermarkets (USA), Pick 'n Save, Prairie Market, SunMart Foods, Savers Choice, Wholesale Food Outlet, and Piggly Wiggly.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grocery store</span> Retail store that primarily sells food and other household supplies

A grocery store (AE), grocery shop (BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, and is not used to refer to other types of stores that sell groceries. In the UK, shops that sell food are distinguished as grocers or grocery shops.

Sobeys Inc. is the second largest supermarket chain in Canada, with over 1,500 stores operating across Canada under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales of more than C$25.1 billion in the fiscal 2019 operating year. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire Company Limited, a Canadian business conglomerate.

WinCo Foods American supermarket chain

WinCo Foods, Inc. is a privately held, majority employee-owned American supermarket chain based in Boise, Idaho, with retail stores in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington. It was founded in 1967 as a no-frills warehouse-style store with low prices. The stores feature extensive bulk food sections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wakefern Food Corporation</span> Cooperative group of supermarkets in the United States

Wakefern Food Corporation was founded in 1946 and is based in Keasbey, New Jersey, U.S. It is the largest retailers' cooperative group of supermarkets and the fourth-largest cooperative of any kind in the United States. Wakefern was the largest private employer in New Jersey in 2018. As of 2021, Wakefern has fifty member companies who own and operate 362 supermarkets, under the brands of ShopRite, Price Rite Marketplace, The Fresh Grocer, Dearborn Market, Gourmet Garage, and Fairway Market in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Virginia.

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).

Cub (supermarket) American supermarket chain

Cub is an American supermarket chain. It operates stores in Minnesota and Illinois. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of SuperValu Inc., based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

Shop ’n Save was a grocery store chain in the Greater St. Louis market with 36 stores at its peak. The company, headquartered in Kirkwood, Missouri, was a wholly owned subsidiary of SuperValu, based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

Econofoods

Econofoods is a grocery chain located in the US which, at its peak, had stores in Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Iowa, Wyoming, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Econofoods was formerly a brand of SpartanNash, and was listed among its retail banners until November 2021.

SpartanNash is an American food distributor and grocery store retailer headquartered in Byron Center, Michigan. The company's core businesses include distributing food to independent grocers, military commissaries, and corporate-owned retail stores in 44 states, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. SpartanNash operates 142 corporate-owned retail stores under a number of brands located in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio, many of which were local grocery chains acquired by SpartanNash. In terms of revenue, it is the largest food distributor serving military commissaries and exchanges in the United States. It is known for its Our Family line of products and formerly the "Spartan" line of products.

A warehouse store or warehouse supermarket is a food and grocery retailer that operates stores geared toward offering deeper discounted prices than a traditional supermarket. These stores offer a no-frills experience and warehouse shelving stocked well with merchandise intended to move at higher volumes. Unlike warehouse clubs, warehouse stores do not require a membership or membership fees. Warehouse stores can also offer a selection of merchandise sold in bulk. Typically, warehouse stores are laid out in a logical format; this leads customers in a certain way around the store to the checkout. For example, as one enters the store they are directed down an aisle of discounted products. From there the layout could then lead to the fresh produce department, followed by the deli and bakery departments at the back of the store. Often, certain customer service niceties, like the bagging of groceries, are not done by store employees; this helps reduce overall cost. Many warehouse stores are operated by traditional grocery chains both as a way to attract lower income, value conscious consumers and to maximize their buying power in order to lower costs at their mainstream stores.

Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. (AWG) is the United States's largest cooperative food wholesaler to independently owned supermarkets and grocery stores. It serves more than 4,000 locations in 36 states and from 8 full-line wholesale divisions. The consolidated run-rate sales for AWG is close to $10 billion. In addition to its cooperative wholesale operations, the company also operates subsidiary companies which provide certain real estate and supermarket development services, digital marketing services, and is a wholesale supply provider of health and beauty care, general merchandise, specialty/international foods and pharmaceutical supplies. It was founded in 1924 as Associated Grocers of Kansas City and is based in Kansas City, Kansas. Associated Wholesale Grocers distributes four private-label brands of grocery products, Best Choice, Clearly Organic, Always Save, and Superior Selections along with IGA.

Food 4 Less No-frills grocery chain

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 Southern California. Kroger operates their stores as Foods Co in northern and central California, 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.

C&S Wholesale Grocers American wholesale distributor

C&S Wholesale Grocers 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. C&S owns the Piggly Wiggly grocery brand, which is independently franchised to store operators, the Grand Union (supermarket) brand, as well as several private label brands, including Best Yet.

Commissos Food Markets

Commisso's Food Markets was a Canadian supermarket chain based in Beamsville, Ontario. Operating under Commisso's Grocery Distributors Limited, the chain was part of one of the largest independently owned grocery and food distribution chains in Southern Ontario. At its peak, Commisso's operated a wholesale business and distribution centre, six cash and carry outlets, and 16 supermarkets across the Niagara and Hamilton areas, where its commitment to "quality products, friendly people and low prices" proved very popular.

Smart & Final Chain of warehouse-style food and supply stores

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.

Pick-N-Pay Supermarkets

Pick-N-Pay Supermarkets was a chain of supermarkets which operated in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio area. The company's origin can be traced to the year 1928 and the opening of a small dairy store in Cleveland Heights, Ohio by Edward Silverberg who then expanded his operation and created a chain of such stores which he called Farmview Creamery Stores. In 1938, Mr. Silverberg opened a supermarket on E. 185th Street which he called Pick-N-Pay. In 1940, he changed the name of all his stores to Pick-N-Pay Supermarkets. He grew the chain to a total of 10 stores and in 1951 sold the company to Cook Coffee Company. Under Cook Coffee's ownership, the chain continued to grow through expansion and through Pick-N-Pay's acquisition of the Foodtown supermarkets in 1959. In 1972, it was sold to a group of private investors led by Julius Kravitz, who continued the use of the brand for the newly independent company. Principal competitors in the Greater Cleveland market were the Fisher-Fazio-Costa, Stop-N-Shop, and Heinen's grocery chains.

Davids Supermarkets Supermarket chain

David's Supermarkets was an independently owned supermarket chain headquartered in Grandview, Texas, United States. Founded in 1964, David's operated 25 stores in North Central Texas and Northeast Texas, concentrated in very small communities not served by other chains.

Fleming Companies was founded as Lux Mercantile in Topeka, Kansas, in 1915 by O. A. Fleming, Gene Wilson and Samuel Lux. In 1921 the company's name was changed to Fleming-Wilson, and in 1941, the company name was changed to The Fleming Company, and Ned Fleming, son of O.A., was named president, chairman, and CEO. The company's IPO occurred in 1959, when 100,000 shares were offered. In 1981, R.D. Harrsion was elected Chairman and CEO of the company, with Dean Werries serving as President and COO. Starting in the 1960s, Fleming Companies began acquiring numerous grocery wholesalers and retailers, and it grew to become the nation's largest supplier of consumer packaged goods to U.S. retailers, serving approximately 50,000 retail locations. These locations included supermarkets such as IGA, convenience stores, supercenters, discount stores, concessions, limited assortment, drug, specialty, casinos, gift shops, military commissaries and exchanges and others. In the early 1990s, Fleming was the largest food wholesaler in the United States. The company served more than 3,500 supermarkets and other retail food stores in 42 states and the District of Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hannaford Brothers Company</span> Supermarket chain in the northeastern United States

Hannaford is an American supermarket chain based in Scarborough, Maine. Founded in Portland, Maine, in 1883, Hannaford operates stores in New England and New York. The chain is now part of the Ahold Delhaize group based in the Netherlands, and is a sister company to formerly competing New England supermarket chain Stop & Shop.

References

  1. "Edina's Nash Finch grocer is acquired by Michigan-based rival". MPR News. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Belz, Adam; Alexander, Steve (July 23, 2013). "Nash Finch to be sold to Spartan Stores in $1.3B deal". Star Tribune . Minneapolis. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Milestones in Nash Finch history". Star Tribune. July 22, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  4. "Spartan Stores to become SpartanNash with completion of Nash Finch deal". MLive. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  5. Springer, Jon (November 19, 2013). "'SpartanNash' Born of Merger". Supermarket News. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  6. Source: Nash Finch Company