These Popular Midwestern Grocery Stores Will No Longer Exist Come 2025
Shoppers in the Midwest take note: Your local supermarket may no longer exist in a few short years. But the news isn't all bad—rather than disappearing, your go-to grocery store will simply be rebranded.
According to Supermarket News, SpartanNash, a Michigan-based company that operates over 147 grocery stores in nine states, is betting on the simplification of its brands to accelerate growth. During a recent update to the investors, the food distributor and grocery store retailer announced plans to consolidate its 10 grocery chain banners into a leaner four-brand model, which means several supermarket brands will be retired.
The company currently operates Family Fare, D&W Fresh Market, Dan's Supermarket, Forest Hills Foods, Martin's Supermarkets, Family Fresh Market, Sunmart, No Frills Supermarkets, VG's Grocery, and Supermercado Nuestra Familia. However, by the end of 2025, it plans to implement a new system where all of its stores fall under one of four brands: the Family Fare banner will cover the conventional supermarket segment, the Martin's Super Markets and D&W Fresh Market brands will focus more on higher-end upmarket food goods, and the Supermercado Nuestra Familia banner will account for the ethnic segment.
"This allows us to have much more purpose as we talk to shoppers and consumers. These archetypes we've identified are also mirrored in our customers in the food distribution space, so we can provide the service and advisory they need to grow. And so we're extremely excited about this banner consolidation over the long-range plan," said SpartanNash chief strategy and information officer Masiar Tayebi.
SpartanNash's new consolidation plan will result in 86 Family Fare locations spread out across Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, as well as another 20 Martin's locations in Northern Indiana and Southwestern Michigan. Meanwhile, 10 D&W Fresh Market locations are slated to operate in Michigan, and three Supermercado stores will open in Nebraska. Additionally, two stand-alone Forest Hills Foods/Ada Fresh Market locations are also expected to remain open.
While shoppers may be concerned about their favorite grocery brands getting the axe, SpartanNash CFO Jason Monaco wants them to know that the sign out front may be changing but the shopper experience at the newly branded supermarket will only get better.
"One thing to think about with banner consolidation is more broadly about the retail strategy and the work that we're doing around upgrading the buildings themselves, the space and the user experience," he explained. "You should expect that we're going to touch about a quarter of the stores over this time period and continue to upgrade the experience. That's going to range from big projects to small that will link with the banner consolidation, so we get a terrific customer experience, grow and deliver the right return on invested capital."
According to the new accelerated growth plan, SpartanNash expects to generate over $10 billion in sales and surpass $300 million in adjusted EBITDA by 2025.
"Most of those banners will be converted by the end of 2024, so it will align with our three-year, long-range plan to be harmonized by the end of 2025," SpartanNash Chief Marketing Officer Amy McClellan told Supermarket News.
