Supervalu closing 60 stores nationwide

[retailisking]

New SVU CEO Wayne Sales is wasting little time in making some tough decisions. Albertsons and Save-A-Lot (Supervalu's supposed growth vehicle) take the biggest hit. No Shaw's or Star Market stores are on the list (yet) but four ACMEs will close.
http://supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/supervalu-close-60-stores

[BillyGr]

Looking over at the Acme Style blog, it looks like 3 of the 4 closing Acme stores (the three that have been featured there) are in what could be called the "least upgraded" category (last of an 80's style, one of 2 remaining 90's style, one of few unexpanded stores from a certain set).  If so, it seems that perhaps there was a reason they weren't updated and probably a good reason for closing them.

Not sure if this is so with the others (the Albertsons or Save a Lot) - being older, not remodeled, bad locations etc. - but it could be with those as well.

It also mentioned a few stores (8 or so) not yet being announced specifically, so there could still be Shaw/Star stores in that group?

[retailisking]

Though he's clearly more of a people person than Herkert ever was, Sales doesn't strike me as the sentimental type about keeping stores open for the sake of doing so. If a money-losing Shaw's/Star can be closed and real estate liquidated for some quick cash, he will pull the trigger. We'll see about those unaccounted-for eight stores pretty soon.

[MikeRa]

Here's some pics of the 4 Acme Markets that are closing:

Glassboro, NJ

Morrisville, PA

Sharon Hill, PA

Stevensville, MD

[shore72]

I'd nearly forgotten Stevensville was still running. It has a lot of age on it, and there is a very nice, very new Safeway not far away. The other area store is a Food Lion; there is a growing, upper-middle class population around there. Seems like they could support 3 markets. I'm thinking one of the "higher brow" stores might want to move in now.

[retailisking]

I'm thinking one of the "higher brow" stores might want to move in now.

Harris Teeter, perhaps?

[Scrabbleship]

I'm thinking one of the "higher brow" stores might want to move in now.

Harris Teeter, perhaps?

Would make a lot of sense if Harris Teeter would think outside the box. They've dragged their heels with Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties to begin with, however this might be logistically better to supply the Southern Delaware stores versus using the Bridge/Tunnel.

Acme still has a newer store in Stevensville in the center of town as opposed to the location on 50/301.

[retailisking]

Acme still has a newer store in Stevensville in the center of town as opposed to the location on 50/301.

Really? I was under the (mis)impression that Stevensville was a one-ACME town. I originally thought it would make sense to convert this unit to Shoppers (which has much more of a critical mass in MD and is a healthier banner overall by most accounts) but I discovered that this unit is rather small and boxed in.

[shore72]

Yeah, that doesn't sound right...Stevensville proper isn't really much of a town and I can't think of another place it would be. I've been wrong before, though! Harris Teeter is one that I was thinking of. Giant would seem to be a good fit but I don't know that they are in growth mode right now. WalMart has been effectively been kept out of the area with clever zoning, or at least that was the case the last time I was paying attention. The Kmart on Kent Island is, therefore, one of the top ranked in the nation in sales.

[retailisking]

Giant would seem to be a good fit but I don't know that they are in growth mode right now.

Ahold is definitely on the hunt for new growth opportunities; look how quickly Giant-Carlisle pounced on Genuardi's.

There's an interesting analysts' conference hosted by Supermarket News that goes into some detail about Supervalu's attempts to sell both Shaw's and ACME. Shaw's couldn't find a buyer that wanted to take the entire chain, and Supervalu wouldn't entertain splitting the chain up. ACME had a buyer but couldn't come to terms on distribution (any deal Supervalu would consider involved a long-term distribution contract.) Perhaps Supervalu will be more willing to compromise now - but the value of the properties has shrunk considerably in the interim.

So, who would be buyers? The analysts mention Ahold and Delhaize - and, interestingly, BJ's Wholesale as well. That last one threw me a bit - if anything, they've been contracting of late, and their new private equity owners have proposed bulking up on debt in order to pay themselves an enormous dividend, which prompted Moody's to lower their debt rating to junk status. Kroger, by the way, was dismissed as a possible buyer in the region.

[retailisking]

An interesting, and little-discussed detail from this round of closures - Supervalu is closing ALL of its corporate Save-A-Lot locations in the Pacific Northwest. It never had much of a presence in the region to begin with.
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/real-estate-daily/2012/09/supervalu-closing-oregon-save-a-lots.html
http://www.oregonlive.com/window-shop/index.ssf/2012/09/discount_grocer_save-a-lot_clo.html