ST. LOUIS – Schnucks, the longtime St. Louis-based grocery store chain, has agreed to purchase two major Wisconsin-based grocers, expanding its family-owned network by 50 stores.
On Tuesday, Schnucks announced a “definitive agreement to purchase 100% of the shares of the
Wisconsin-based parent company of Skogen’s Festival Foods and Hometown Grocers, Inc.”
The deal will increase Schnucks’ portfolio to 164 grocery stores across Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
Through the acquisition, Schnucks, Festival Foods and Hometown Grocers will all be part of a new parent company called the 1939 group, named after the year Schnucks opened its first store. Additionally, each grocer will continue operating under its existing name.
Festival Foods currently runs 42 stores, while Hometown Grocers operates stores under nine banners, all in Wisconsin, including Dave’s County Market, Denny’s Supervalu, and Lake Mills Market, among others.
As part of the transition, Festival’s longtime leader, Mark Skogen, will step down and Schnucks CEO Todd Schnuck will lead the new 1939 Group. The company will employ around 19,000 people in the Midwest.
“Our family is honored to be entrusted with the Skogen family legacy, one that began serving
Wisconsin communities in 1946 and continued for decades under the leadership of Dave and
Barb, and later, under Mark as CEO,” said Todd Schnuck via a news release. “Schnucks, Skogen’s Festival Foods and Hometown Grocers share a strikingly similar set of core values, tracing our success to decades of consistently focusing on the communities we serve, the values we share and the ongoing quest for excellence in grocery retail. With this combination, we’re welcoming more than 8,000 associates to our family, unifying two family legacies and redefining what it means to be a regional grocer.”
The purchase is expected to close in October, pending customary approval.
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