Shoppers Food Warehouse is one of several banners that operates under the parent company of SUPERVALU. According to the company’s own data, they operate over 2,400 stores nationwide including a few international locations. Over 1,102 retail food stores operate under many names, including Shoppers Food Warehouse, Shaw’s, Shop ‘n Save, and Farm Fresh. In total, there are also over 1,332 discount food stores that use the banner Save-A-Lot, an entirely non-union division. A majority of the Save-A-Lot banner stores–935 to be exact–are run by licensed independent operators. Only 397 stores are operated directly by SUPERVALU under the Save-A-Lot banner.
SUPERVALU often refers to their retail food stores like Shoppers Food Warehouse as “traditional” stores. These stores are typically larger and offer more goods than the Save-A-Lot discount food stores. The company owns only 40% of its storefront locations in the “traditional” retail branch of its operations. They’ve remodeled 87% of their stores over the last ten years.
The company’s CEO is Craig Herkert. CEO Herkert’s background is largely made up from Walmart prior to joining SUPERVALU’s leadership team in 2009. In his role with Walmart, he was the CEO and president of the Americas division from 2004-2009. In 2011, an retail industry publication, Supermarket News, ranked Herkert number 4 in their “Power 50″.
The Save-A-Lot President and CEO is Santiago Roces, a former SVP and general manager from Walmart’s division that handles their smaller-format stores, similar to those that they’d like to build in Washington, DC.
The company has undoubtedly struggled overall in the past few years and has made moves in recent months to layoff a good number of its administrative staff. Since Herkert took over the helm of the company in 2009, he’s shifted the business model to focus on expansion in the Save-A-Lot arena. Upon taking on his new role at SUPERVALU, Herkert indicated that he wanted to double the number of Save-A-Lots across the country. To fund this plan, the company cut stock dividends payments per share in half.
Financials
