S-Mart Move

Save Mart Supermarkets (Modesto, Calif.) has agreed to acquire the Northern California division of Albertson's LLC (Boise, Idaho), some of the remains of what was once the second-largest supermarket chain in the U.S.

The addition of the 132 Albertson's stores in northern California and northern Nevada (plus two distribution centers and the division office in Dublin, Calif.) will more than double the Save Mart chain, which now numbers about 125 stores in northern and central California under the Save Mart, Food Maxx and S-Mart banners.

The once-powerful 2500-store Albertson's chain sold itself in mid-2006 to a consortium that included grocer Supervalu, drugstore chain CVS, investment firm Cerberus Capital Management and Kimco Realty for about $9.7 billion. Supervalu and CVS cherry-picked the company's best supermarket and standalone drugstore assets, leaving about 525 stores, which operate under the Albertsons, Super Saver and Grocery Warehouse banners.