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| Mark Gross, president and CEO of Supervalu |
“The completion of this transaction is a significant step forward for Supervalu and the growth of our wholesale business,” said Mark Gross, president and CEO of Supervalu. “Our teams are fully engaged in the important work of integrating these two great organizations with a continued focus on delivering for our customers and stockholders. We’re excited about working with the many talented associates to supply and serve our expanded and highly diverse customer base.”
Supervalu is one of the largest grocery wholesalers and retailers in the United States with annual sales of approximately $13 billion. Unified Grocers, a retailer-owned wholesale grocery distributor that supplies independent retailers throughout the western US, reported annual sales of about $3.8 billion. Supervalu will maintain Unified Grocers’ headquarters in Commerce along with management and employees.
The combined companies will operate 24 distribution centers that supply customers in 46 states and serve a customer base of more than 3,000 stores. The merger is expected to open new avenues for growth such as the expansion of Unified Grocers’ Market Centre division which provides specialty and ethnic products to independent retailers.
In other news, Supervalu announced that Bruce Besanko has tendered his resignation, effective July 5. Besanko is executive vice president, COO and CFO. Rob Woseth, executive vice president and chief strategy officer, has been named interim CFO, while David Johnson, vice president and controller, will assume the additional position of interim chief accounting officer.
