Supervalu

Supervalu Inc. completed yesterday its acquisition of Richfood Holdings Inc., the owner of Catonsville-based Metro Food Markets, for $1.5 billion in stock, cash and assumed debt.With the addition of the $4 billion food wholesaler and retailer based in Richmond, Va., Supervalu strengthens its position as the nation's biggest grocery distributor and becomes the 10th-largest supermarket operator in the United States.The purchase is expected to increase the Minneapolis company's retail store sales by more than 35 percent, to about $8 billion, with total annual sales of $25 billion.

Former State Highway Administration chief Neil Pedersen testified Wednesday in federal court in Baltimore that state Sen. Ulysses S. Currie constantly asked him the status of transportation projects sought by Shoppers Food Warehouse but never mentioned being on the company's payroll. "At any point did he disclose to you that he had a financial relationship with Shoppers?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Leo J. Wise asked. "No, he did not," Pedersen replied. Currie, 74, a Prince George's County Democrat, is accused of accepting $245,000 in bribes from the supermarket chain between 2002 and 2008.

Supervalu Inc., the parent of Metro Food Markets and Shoppers Food Warehouse, said yesterday that it will consolidate the administrative functions of the two chains -- a move that will result in the departure of Metro founder and President John Ryder. Ryder, who has worked in the retail food industry for 25 years, was not available for comment yesterday, but said in a statement that he will reveal his plans later. The combined operation will be headed by Bill White, current president of Lanham-based Shoppers Food Warehouse, the third-largest grocery chain in the Washington market with 37 stores.

Buyers have stepped forward to snap up a dozen Superfresh grocery stores slated to be shut down in July as its bankrupt parent works to pay off billions of dollars in liabilities. Superfresh owner A&P said last month it was trying to sell 25 Superfresh stores, mostly in the Baltimore area. The Montvale, N.J., company said 1,500 workers would lose their jobs unless new owners decide to keep the current employees. Any sale would require the approval of a bankruptcy judge. A hearing is expected June 14. A joint venture between Mrs. Green's Management Corp.

With a new and more powerful owner, Metro Food Markets will become an even more formidable competitor in the region's grocery wars.Grocery retailing experts agreed that the 18-store Metro chain can only benefit from the deal that would allow Supervalu Inc., the largest supermarket distributor in the United States, to acquire Richfood Holdings Inc., a Richmond, Va.-based wholesaler and Metro's owner, for $1.5 billion in cash, stock and assumed debt.Supervalu...

The nation's second-largest grocery wholesaler purchased a mammoth distribution facility in the Perryman section of Harford County yesterday for roughly $17 million, a move that will create 200 jobs next year.Supervalu Inc., a Minneapolis-based company with $16 billion in annual sales, bought the 530,000-square-foot project to increase operating efficiency and improve its buying position with manufacturers, said Larry Anderson, a Supervalu executive vice president.Supervalu acquired the building -- which includes a new $6 million freezer addition -- from grocery distributor B. Green & Co. Inc., which had signed a 15-year lease with a purchase option in August 1992.

John Ryder, the energetic, hands-on president of the fast-growing Metro Food Market chain, said yesterday that SuperValu Inc.'s purchase of Metro's parent company should boost Metro's expansion efforts in the Baltimore-Washington area."

Save-A-Lot Food Store, the fast-growing St. Louis-based grocery chain that stocks its shelves with national brand knockoffs such as Bubba Cola and Winkies, opened its first Baltimore location yesterday, anchoring the new Midtown Market shopping center at Howard and 21st streets.Instead of Wisk, Mountain Dew and Pledge, shoppers will find Frisk, Mountain Holler and Honor in the 39,000-square-foot store.The chain, which runs 709 stores in 31 states and opened 108 stores last year, offers mostly custom-brand products in a single size and promises savings of up to 40 percent.

The FBI is investigating Sen. Ulysses Currie, a leading Prince George's County Democrat, in connection with his consulting work for Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, a spokeswoman for parent company Supervalu in Minnesota said yesterday. Richard Wolf, an FBI spokesman in Baltimore, said that agents visited Currie's District Heights home yesterday afternoon after also serving a search warrant at Shoppers Food Warehouse's corporate headquarters in Lanham. "It's an ongoing investigation," said Wolf, who declined to provide additional information.

Buyers have stepped forward to snap up a dozen Superfresh grocery stores slated to be shut down in July as its bankrupt parent works to pay off billions of dollars in liabilities. Superfresh owner A&P said last month it was trying to sell 25 Superfresh stores, mostly in the Baltimore area. The Montvale, N.J., company said 1,500 workers would lose their jobs unless new owners decide to keep the current employees. Any sale would require the approval of a bankruptcy judge. A hearing is expected June 14. A joint venture between Mrs. Green's Management Corp.

The FBI is investigating Sen. Ulysses Currie, a leading Prince George's County Democrat, in connection with his consulting work for Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, a spokeswoman for parent company Supervalu in Minnesota said yesterday. Richard Wolf, an FBI spokesman in Baltimore, said that agents visited Currie's District Heights home yesterday afternoon after also serving a search warrant at Shoppers Food Warehouse's corporate headquarters in Lanham. "It's an ongoing investigation," said Wolf, who declined to provide additional information.

Supermarket giant Supervalu Inc. is closing its Harford County grocery distribution center and two others in Pennsylvania because the company wants to consolidate its supply chain network. The three centers, including those in Harrisburg and Easton, Pa., will be merged into the company's Lancaster, Pa., plant, the company announced Wednesday. The move will affect 600 people, including 90 workers at the Perryman facility, Supervalu spokeswoman Haley Meyer said yesterday. She would not say whether the affected workers would be laid off or relocated to Lancaster.

LOS ANGELES -- Burdened with aging stores and growing competition, Albertson's Inc. said yesterday that it had agreed to be sold and broken into three pieces. The transaction could lead to a refurbishment of Albertson's stores in Southern California and would make CVS Corp. the largest drugstore chain in the region. Yesterday's announcement follows months of negotiations and a complete breakdown in talks in late December. The company said an investor group that includes grocery store chain Supervalu Inc., CVS and private investment firms Cerberus Capital Management and Kimco Realty Corp.

A Harford County warehouse owned by SuperValu Inc. was sold to a Chicago-based real estate investment trust that plans to fill it with other businesses and add a new building next door, the buyer confirmed yesterday. In one of the area's first big industrial deals of the year, First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. bought the 527,600-square-foot warehouse off Interstate 95 and will lease a portion back to the grocery operator and wholesaler. SuperValu, which uses a little over a third of the warehouse, bought the building in 1994 for about $20 million and was asking $21.5 million.

Supervalu Inc., the parent of Metro Food Markets and Shoppers Food Warehouse, said yesterday that it will consolidate the administrative functions of the two chains -- a move that will result in the departure of Metro founder and President John Ryder. Ryder, who has worked in the retail food industry for 25 years, was not available for comment yesterday, but said in a statement that he will reveal his plans later. The combined operation will be headed by Bill White, current president of Lanham-based Shoppers Food Warehouse, the third-largest grocery chain in the Washington market with 37 stores.

Supervalu Inc. completed yesterday its acquisition of Richfood Holdings Inc., the owner of Catonsville-based Metro Food Markets, for $1.5 billion in stock, cash and assumed debt.With the addition of the $4 billion food wholesaler and retailer based in Richmond, Va., Supervalu strengthens its position as the nation's biggest grocery distributor and becomes the 10th-largest supermarket operator in the United States.The purchase is expected to increase the Minneapolis company's retail store sales by more than 35 percent, to about $8 billion, with total annual sales of $25 billion.

Former State Highway Administration chief Neil Pedersen testified Wednesday in federal court in Baltimore that state Sen. Ulysses S. Currie constantly asked him the status of transportation projects sought by Shoppers Food Warehouse but never mentioned being on the company's payroll. "At any point did he disclose to you that he had a financial relationship with Shoppers?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Leo J. Wise asked. "No, he did not," Pedersen replied. Currie, 74, a Prince George's County Democrat, is accused of accepting $245,000 in bribes from the supermarket chain between 2002 and 2008.

With a new and more powerful owner, Metro Food Markets will become an even more formidable competitor in the region's grocery wars.Grocery retailing experts agreed that the 18-store Metro chain can only benefit from the deal that would allow Supervalu Inc., the largest supermarket distributor in the United States, to acquire Richfood Holdings Inc., a Richmond, Va.-based wholesaler and Metro's owner, for $1.5 billion in cash, stock and assumed debt.Supervalu...

John Ryder, the energetic, hands-on president of the fast-growing Metro Food Market chain, said yesterday that SuperValu Inc.'s purchase of Metro's parent company should boost Metro's expansion efforts in the Baltimore-Washington area."