SuperValu (United States)

Infobox_Company
company_
company_name = Supervalu Inc.
company_type = Public (NYSE: [http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=SVU SVU] )
company_slogan = Tradition, excellence and future promise.
foundation = 1870 (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
industry = Grocery store
location = Eden Prairie, Minnesota
key_people = Jeff Noddle, Chairman & CEO Mike Jackson, President & COO
Paul Singer & CIO
num_employees = 200,000
industry = Retail (Grocery)
products = Grocery stores, pharmacies, food
revenue = $44 billion (2007) [ [http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=93272&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=843642&highlight= SUPERVALU Reports Fiscal 2006 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results] , SUPERVALU, Inc., April 18, 2006.]
homepage = [http://www.supervalu.com/ www.supervalu.com]

SuperValu Inc. (NYSE|SVU) is a United States grocery retailer and distributor. The corporation is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and has been in business for over a century. It is the third-largest food retailing company in the United States and ranks #62 on the Fortune 100 list.

As of June 2, 2006, Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons, Inc. and 1,124 of its stores have been sold to Supervalu. The sale was approved by the shareholders of both Supervalu and Albertsons on May 30, 2006.

"Supermarket News" ranked Supervalu No. 5 in the 2007 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2006 fiscal year estimated sales of $37 billion. [http://www.supermarketnews.com/sns-top-75/ 2007 Top 75 North American Food Retailers] , "Supermarket News", Last accessed February 24, 2007.]
"Supermarket News" ranked SuperValu No.1 in the 2008 "Top Wholesalers for 2008". [http://supermarketnews.com/profiles/top_wholesalers_2008/index.html 2008 SN Top Wholesale Listing,"Supermarket News", Last Accessed October 2, 2008.]

History

In 1870, Hugh G. Harrison provided the money for B.S. Bull and Company, a dry goods wholesaler serving Minneapolis, Minnesota. Though B.S. Bull and Company was short lived, its founders went on to create similar company. In 1926, Hugh G. Harrison formed Winston and Newell Company which went on to be Supervalu Inc.

Acquisitions

In 1971, the discount department store chain "ShopKo" was acquired by Supervalu Inc., and was spun-off in 1991 to form a separate, publicly traded company. SuperValu retained a 46% interest in the new company, which ShopKo later purchased in 1997.

In 1980, the company acquired Minnesota-based "Cub Foods", which operated five stores in the Twin Cities area. As of 2004, Cub was operating more than 100 stores in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois.

In the next few years, Supervalu acquired stores such as "Scott's Food & Pharmacy" in 1991, "Shop 'n Save" and "Save-A-Lot" in 1992, and "bigg's" in 1994.

In 1999, Supervalu acquired Richfood Holdings for 1.5 billion dollars, adding a mid-atlantic distribution presence and stores including "Farm Fresh Food & Pharmacy", Shoppers' Food Warehouse, and Metro.

On January 23, 2006, Supervalu announced that it, along with a collection of investors including CVS Corporation, Kimco Realty, and Cerberus Group had agreed to acquire Albertsons Inc. for 9.7 billion dollars. The acquisition was completed on June 2, 2006. Supervalu acquired over 1100 stores in the deal including:
*"Acme" (134 locations)
*"Acme Express", "Jewel Express", and "Albertsons Express" (107 fuel centers)
*"Albertsons" (564 locations)
*"Bristol Farms" (15 locations)
*"Jewel" and "Jewel-Osco" (198 locations)
*"Lazy Acres" (1 location)
*"Max Foods" (3 locations) (Later rebranded "Lucky")
*"Osco Pharmacy" and "Sav-on Pharmacy" (906 pharmacies)
*"Save-A-Lot" (2 stores franchised by Shaw's)
*"Shaw's" (188 locations)
*"Star Market" (20 locations) (7 re-branded Shaw's)

Today

Today, Supervalu operates 2,505 food and food/drug combination stores, 878 in-store pharmacies, 117 fuel centers and serves as primary distributor to an additional 2,200 stores.

Supervalu also supplies a network of independent retailers (often found in smaller cities) that sometimes use the Supervalu name. However, these stores are not owned by the company. Supervalu also franchises the Cub Foods and Save-A-Lot brand to independent retailers.

Overview of Supervalu

As a supplier to IGA (Independent Grocers Alliance) supermarkets, Supervalu necessarily has formed close relationships with these family-owned grocery businesses, some of which have had relationships with the corporation for over two or three generations. But Wal-Mart's newly arrived grocery competition to these stores also affects Supervalu, Inc. In addition, Supervalu is selling its Shop 'n Save stores in the Pittsburgh market as a result of being unable to compete with Wal-Mart and fast-growing local chain Giant Eagle. Most will be sold to independent owners, and continue to operate under the Shop 'n Save banner. Supervalu will continue to supply all area FoodLand, Save-A-Lot and the independent Shop 'n Save locations of western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia.

Supervalu enjoys economies of scale when dealing with the well-known national food firms like Kraft Foods, General Foods, General Mills, the beer manufacturers, meat suppliers, produce suppliers and dairy suppliers, as well as the health and beauty product suppliers, by purchasing in bulk and then distributing the goods by Direct Store Delivery from its distribution centers, which are located nationwide.

The ethnic foods market is an emerging sector and remains a challenge for this business, as well as the natural and organic foods sector, as there are no clear market leaders for the corporation to deal with in these sectors. It remains to be seen whether Supervalu's tradition of dealing with small grocery businesses can be extended to these emerging markets.

Supervalu private-label brands include Flavorite, Shoppers Value, HomeBest, and Richfood.

Supervalu also owns two third-party logistics firms, Advantage Logistics and Total Logistic Control. In 2005, Supervalu launched a specialty produce company, W. Newell & Company which is headquartered in Champaign, Illinois.

Marketshare

As of 2006, Supervalu has a leading marketshare position in several markets where it has operations.

First:
*Philadelphia, PA-NJ (Acme)
*Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN (Cub Foods)
*Fargo, ND (Hornbacher's)
*Chicago, IL (Jewel, Jewel-Osco)
*Billings, MT (Albertsons)
*Nampa/Boise, ID (Albertsons)
*Las Vegas, NV (Albertsons)
*Orange County, CA (Albertsons, Bristol Farms)

Second:
*Cincinnati, OH (bigg's)
*Norfolk/Virginia Beach, VA (Farm Fresh Food & Pharmacy)
*Boston, MA-NH-ME (Shaw's and Star Market)
*Spokane, WA (Albertsons)
*Salt Lake City/Ogden, UT (Albertsons)
*St. Louis, MO (Shop 'n Save)
*Riverside-San Bernardino, CA (Albertsons, Bristol Farms)
*San Diego, CA (Albertsons, Bristol Farms)
*Ventura, CA (Albertsons, Bristol Farms)

Third:
*Pittsburgh, PA (Shop 'n Save)
*Seattle-Bellevue-Everett/Tacoma, WA (Albertsons)
*Washington, D.C./Baltimore, MD (Shoppers)
*Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA (Albertsons, Bristol Farms)

Chains

The company operates under multiple retail banners, or chains:
*Acme 134 locations (Philadelphia, DE, Northern MD, NJ, Eastern PA)
*Acme Express, Jewel Express, Albertsons Express,and Farm Fresh Fuel Express 117 fuel centers (Nationwide)
*Albertsons 564 locations (Southern CA, ID, MT, ND, Southern NV (and Elko), OR, UT, WA, WY)
*bigg's 12 locations (Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky)
*Bristol Farms 15 locations (Southern California and San Francisco, CA)
*Cub Foods 83 locations of which 31 are franchised (Minneapolis-St. Paul, IA, MN and WI.)
*Farm Fresh Food & Pharmacy 40 locations (Hampton Roads and Richmond-Petersburg, VA, plus Elizabeth City, NC)
*Foodland 80 locations (Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Southwestern Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, Southeastern Ohio, Western Maryland)
*Hornbacher's 6 locations (Fargo-Moorhead, ND/MN)
*Jewel and Jewel-Osco 198 locations in Illinois, eastern Iowa, northwestern Indiana and southeastern Wisconsin)
*Lazy Acres 1 location (Santa Barbara, CA)
*Lucky 5 locations (Las Vegas and Southern California)
*Osco Pharmacy and Sav-on Pharmacy 722 pharmacies (Nationwide)
*Save-A-Lot 1292 locations of which 860 are franchised (Nationwide)
*Shaw's 191 locations (Boston area, CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)
*Shop 'n Save 48 locations (Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Southern IL and Springfield, IL)
*Shoppers Food & Pharmacy 62 locations (Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD and Northern VA)
*Star Market 12 locations (Boston, MA-area)
*Supervalu Pharmacies 109 pharmacies (Nationwide)

References

External links

* [http://www.supervalu.com Supervalu]
* [http://www.supervalu-storebrands.com/ Supervalu store brands]
* [http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/93/93272/SVU%202008%20AR.pdf SuperValu 2008 Annual Report]
* Most recent Quarter Results.cite web
last = Oliver
first = David
authorlink = David Oliver
title = SUPERVALU Reports Record First Quarter Fiscal 2009 Earnings
publisher = BUSINESS WIRE
date = 2008-07-22
url = http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=93272&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1177508&highlight=
format = html
accessdate = 2008-10-02

* [http://supermarketnews.com/profiles/supervalu/ Supermarket News:SuperValu Profile]
* [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/19/business/NA-FIN-US-Supervalu-Wire-Fraud.php "Grocer falls prey to $10M wire fraud scam", Associated Press, October 19, 2007]