Regional Grocer on the Grow

SpartanNash (Grand Rapids, Mich) announced it has acquired Fresh Encounter Inc. (Findlay, Ohio), a 49-store supermarket chain serving Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Owned by third-generation grocers Michael Needler Jr. and Julie Anderson, FEI has been a food-distribution customer of SpartanNash for 58 years.

“This acquisition is an exciting milestone in our company’s strategic growth plans,” said SpartanNash CEO Tony Sarsam. “Not only will we welcome 2500 new associates to the SpartanNash family, we will also begin serving shoppers in Kentucky and grow our existing footprint across Ohio and Indiana. Retail is a critical component of our business model and long-term strategic plan, as we meet consumer needs and leverage insights from our stores to continuously innovate our products and operations across our wholesale business.”

SpartanNash operates two complementary segments – food wholesale and grocery retail. On the retail side, it operates 147 brick-and-mortar grocery stores, primarily under the banners of Family Fare, Martin’s Super Markets and D&W Fresh Market.

The FEI acquisition expands SpartanNash’s retail footprint by 33% and is the company’s second retail buy this year, following the addition of Metcalfe’s Market in April. FEI mainly operates under the retail store banners Community Markets, Remke Markets, Chief Markets and Needler’s Fresh Market.

The transaction is expected to close in late November, subject to customary closing conditions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.