Marks & Spencer Group (London) has finally found a buyer for its last U.S. retail holding. D'Agostino Supermarkets (Larchmont, N.Y.) will buy M&S's Kings SuperMarkets Inc. (Parsippany, N.J.) for $160 million in cash.
When completed, the transaction will at last remove the troubled Marks & Spencer retail operation from this country. In November 2001, it finally sold its New York-based Brooks Brothers operation to Retail Brand Alliance (Enfield, Conn.) after a long search.
D'Agostino operates 20 high-end, high-concept supermarkets in New York City and suburban Westchester County. Kings operates 27 similarly high-end grocery stores in New Jersey and New York. The 66-year-old retail organization was bought by Marks & Spencer in 1988 and has been on the block since 1999.
There has not yet been any indication as to whether D'Agostino will keep the Kings banner or convert the stores to D'Agostinos.