6/7/99
Jamestown, NY has taken over distribution to 68 Country Fair stores from Erie, PA, beginning June 14th.
5/21/99
Milton, WI has taken over distribution to Stop N Go of Wisconsin from Chicago, IL.
Chicago, IL has taken over distribution to Woodman's Supermarkets from Milton, WI.
Dubuque, IA is taking over distribution to Open Pantry and Minitman stores from Chicago and Appleton, WI
Best Distributing has gone from Milton, WI to Appleton, WI.
5/13/99
Shopko Stores, of Green bay, WI has agreed to buy Pamida Stores. Pamida operates 147 mass-merchandise stores in the Midwest and Rocky Mountain states.
4/30/99
WFDA (formerly Fenton Hill) Pittsburgh is going to Altoona, PA from Solon, OH.
Kroger Divisions are moving: Indianapolis Division to The News Group ( Atlanta) and Anderson, Cincinnati Division to Anderson (Lexington) and Detriot Division to The News Group.
4/16/99
Distribution to Harmon's stores is going from Salt Lake City, UT to Fife, WA.
4/15/99
Tacoma, WA will take over distribution for Wal-Mart stores currently serviced by Anchorage, AK.
The New England agencies (RPM and Cohen) are consolidating their chain store distribution (see Wholesaler News) and wholesaler allotments are now being changed. Brockton, Fall River, Holyoke, Lynn, Wareham, Pembroke and Bedford are having their A&P, Big Y, Edwards, Shaws and Brooks Drug stores divided up between Boylston, North Quincy and Hartford. Bangor's stores are going to Portland, ME.
Hartford is losing Edwards stores to Hicksville. Philadelphia is losing Edwards stores to North Bergen.
3/29/99
H.E.Butt and United Supermarkets will no longer be serviced by Dallas, TX ( Anderson/Martin), but will be serviced by ETD-Kroger/The News Group.
3/9/99
Pathmark Supermarkets is being purchased by Ahold, the Dutch company which also ownes Giant Landover, Bi-Lo and Stop & Shop.
3/1/99
W.H. Smith has announced that The News Group will distribute to their airport shops in Birmingham, AL; Cincinnati, OH; Norfolk, VA; Orlando, FL and Pittsburgh, PA. The News Group will also take over distribution to W. H. Smith's hotel groups in Indianapolis, IN; Elizabeth City, NC; Orlando, FL and Lake Worth FL. The Pittsburgh change will start May 1, 1999 and the rest will start April 1, 1999.
2/16/99
Wegmans Supermarkets, formerly serviced by the Rubin Group, will now be serviced by Buffalo, Jamestown and Massena, NY and Harrsburg, PA.
1/21/99
The News Group will start servicing Marsh Supermarkets, beginning in March. Servicing agency not yet known, but could be Peoria.
Longs Drug's of N. California will shift its distribution to Sonora (to 31 stores), Chico (7 stores), Visalia ( 31 stores). The rest of the stores will go to W. Sacramento. These stores come from Burbank (10) and Modesto.
1/15/98
Monarch Inc/CA1, in Buffalo, NY will switch from The Rubin Group to Empire State News Corp.
Safeway, Oregon Div. will be serviced by Fife, WA effective 3/8/99.
12/16/98
Thrift Drug (J.C.Penney) is purchasing Genovese Drug Stores of New York.
12/11/98
Price Chopper and Grand Union are going from the Rubin Group to the Benjamin Group and the Evan Group in upstate New York and Vermont.
Jubilee stores are going from Levy to Empire State News Corp.
12/10/98
UCS distribution in Ontario is moving from CMMI to The News Group.
W. Sacramento is gaining 25 Target Stores from Modesto.
Fife, WA is gaining distribution of Target Stores and Fred Meyer Stores from Salt Lake City, UT.
11/17/98
Loblaws, Toronto is purchasing Provigo, Inc of Quebec and the Atlantic division of Oshawa Group.
Empire Co., owner of Sobey's is purchasing the Oshawa Group.
10/28/98
Kroger has purchased J.C.Groub stores of Indiana.
10/21/98
Kroger has announced that it would acquire Fred Meyer Inc.. They have no plans to change store names or management.
10/15/98
Safeway has announced it will purchase Dominicks in the Chicago area.
Fred Meyer will sell 38 stores outside its western market. Associated Wholesale Grocers will purchase 5 Falley's and 33 Food-4-Less stores in the Midwest. In another move they purchased 13 Albertson's and Buttrey stores in Montana and Wyoming, through their Smith's Food division.
9/17/98
7-11 Chesapeake Division will change distribution from Baltimore, MD and Richmond, VA to Rocky Mount, NC
9/8/98
Portland, OR has elected to discontinue distribution to Fred Meyer stores. The News Group will take over distribtuion to these accounts beginning January 1999. These stores are in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Utah.
9/2/98
Target Stores will change distribution form Modesto, CA to Monterey, CA effective January 1st, 1999.
8/17/98
Safeway has purchased the Carr Gottstein Food stores in Alaska.
Monterey, CA will take over distribution to the Host stands in San Francisco, beginning October 1st, from Oakland, CA.
Visalia, CA, which is distributing to chain stores contracted to ANCO, is giving that business back.
Safeway's N. California Division has awarded 60% of its business to Monterey, CA (The News Group). The remaining stores will be serviced by ANCO. Change to start November 1st.
8/4/98
Albertsons has purchased American Stores, which will make the combined operation the largest supermarket chain in the country. American Stores operates Lucky Stores, Jewel Food and ACME supermarkets and Osco Drug and Sav-On Drug.
7/24/98
Quik Trip Convenience Stores will change distributors from Maryland Heights, MO to Jefferson City, MO.
6/22/98
Fred Meyer Stores will have Arlington, WA, Anchorage, AK, Portland, OR and Missoula, MT distributing to its stores. Agencies losing distribution are Tacoma, Seattle and Salt Lake City.
5/8/98
Venture Stores are going out of business. Some of their store locations will be taken over by K-Mart.
Drug Emporium, of Washington, was purchased by Longs Drugs.
Gulfport, MS lost 53 Walgreen Stores to St. Rose in March.
News Group will be distributing to A&P Canada beginning June 1, 1998.
5/1/98
Unimag has reestablished distribution to Marsh Supermarkets.
4/7/98
Christy's convenience stores, in MA, was purchased by 7-11 last week. Christy's were being serviced by the RPM marketing group and 7-11 by all wholesalers. At this point there are no distribution changes scheduled, but if 7-11 goes with their authorized list, a lot of sales will be lost.
The News Group is also taking over distribution to Marsh Supermarkets, an Indiana supermarket chain, from Unimag.
3/27/98
A&P Canada is changing distributors from CMMI to the News Group, effective 6/1/98.
3/13/98
The News Group is taking over the distribution to 66 of Kroger's Indianapolis Division from Unimag effective 4/15/98. Allotments will go to Atlanta. Anderson News will continue to distribute to the Kroger stores they are now servicing.
3/9/98
Byerly's markets is switching distributors, from Mankato, MN to Minneapolis,MN, effective the second week of April.
Sacramento, CA is transferring 5 Albertsons, 18 Thrifty Payless, 8 K-Mart, 4 Target and 2 Wal-Mart stores to Monterey, CA for distribution (In addition to their own dealers Monterey also is a sub-contractor for ARAMARK).
Venture stores have closed all their stores in the Houston, TX market.
2/10/98
It was announced that CVS Drug Stores is purchasing Arbor Drug of Detroit, MI. This is the latest consolidation in the Drug industry. Rite-Aid recently purchased Nelson Drugs of Parkersburg, WV. Last year they purchased K&B Drugs of New Orleans, Harco Drug of Alabama, Thrifty Payless, Taylor Drug of Louisville, KY, White Shield of Harrisburg, PA and Concord Drug of Ponitac, MI.
Other recent mergers have been Fred Meyer Stores purchasing Smith's Food and Drug of Salt Lake City, Ralphs Supermarkets, and Quality Food Centers - Hughes Markets; Albertsons purchaseing Buttery Food & Drug of Idaho and Montana and Seesel's of Memphis; and The Pantry of Sanford, NC purchasing Lil' Champ of Jacksonville, FL.
Kroger recently merged its Dallas and Houston Divisions.
1/9/98
Raley's, in Northern California, is purchasing Nob Hill Foods, which also trades in the San Francisco area.
Tangent, OR is taking over distribution in the Salt Lake City, UT airport, currently serviced by ARAMARK.
It is rumored that Unimag will be taking over distribution to 7-11 stores from Levy.
Stoney Creek, ON has picked up 4 Lichtmans stores from Metro Toronto.
Army/Air Force commissaries are discontinuing sales of all magazines
Schwegmanns Supermarkets of new Orleans is removing all checkout fixtures.
ANCO has taken over distribution to 23 Consumers Markets from Springfield, MO. 13 stores will be serviced by Paducah, KY and the rest split between Quincy, IL and Topeka, KS.
CVS has purchased the REVCO Drug chain and is starting to convert the REVCO stores into CVS stores. Along with the merger, CVS is enlarging its authorized list. Since the former REVCO stores are changing to the CVS format, they will have larger mainline magazine racks.
As mentioned below, the Meijers scan data/no return procedure is scheduled to start 9/2/97.
Here we go, round two is starting.
Rutland, VT will start servicing 22 Ames Stores in Maine, quite a stretch from Vermont.
Target Stores- Philadelphia has taken over the 9 stores serviced by Washington, DC
Rite-Aid Corp. is purchasing Harco Drugs of Alabama and K & B Drugs of New Orleans. This will be Rite-Aid's first incursion into the deep South.
Happy Harry Drug Stores, which Philadelphia got from Newark, DE will now be serviced by Baltimore, MD
Baltimore will also be servicing the 35 Walden bookstores currently serviced by Massena, NY Baltimore also has the Orioles and New York does not.
Edwards Supermarkets- stores serviced by Hartford, CT will now be serviced by Allentown, PA.
Harvest Foods, which moved from Mablevale, AR to Fayetteville, AR, has now moved back to service from Mablevale.
Charnel Airport Stands - The shops in the Cincinnati (2), Indianapolis (2) and Louisville (2) airports, previously serviced by ANCO, will now be serviced by Johnson City, TN. The shop in Norfolk, VA, serviced by Washington, DC, will be serviced by Elizabeth City, NC, effective January 1998.
Meijer Stores, of Grand Rapids, MI is planning to pay for magazines sold from scan data. You should watch this experiment closely, because other retailers will, and many are ready to implement this system. Unless their stores get scanners which can read the add-on issue codes, this will create a nightmare for wholesalers and publishers.
Fresh Fields is talking to Baltimore, MD about distributing to its stores in N. Virginia and Maryland.