Dive Brief:

• SpartanNash announced Tuesday it is converting remodeled stores under the No Frills, Sun Mart and Dan’s Supermarkets retail banners to its flagship retail banner Family Fare.
• The company completed seven store remodels in Nebraska this summer and has five more conversions planned for North Dakota by the end of the summer, per the press release.  
• The remodels and branding updates continue SpartanNash’s efforts to consolidate its fleet of supermarket banners under marquee banners. 

Dive Insight:

SpartanNash said that the store remodelings are focused on improving the customer experience. The updates include contemporary décor and store layout changes. The re-bannered stores will have an enhanced loyalty and rewards program featuring digital coupons, fuel rewards and weekly grocery savings, the company said. 

Dan’s Supermarket has five stores in North Dakota serving Bismarck and Mandan. The No Frills stores are located in Glenwood, Iowa, and Ashland, Nebraska. Sun Mart Foods has five stores in Nebraska.

SpartanNash noted that its Family Fare banner is “best known for everyday value and convenience, outstanding service, and a commitment to community.” 

“Family Fare brings hometown appeal, value and service to neighborhoods in communities large and small,” SpartanNash Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Amy McClellan said in the announcement.

McClellan said that the consolidation is unifying and strengthening the company’s retail operations while expanding the Family Fare brand to new places around the Midwest. 

“Converting these stores was part of our long-range plan to leverage the strength and equity of our banner brands for growth and operational efficiency,” McClellan said. 

All Family Fare stores will remain SpartanNash-operated, per the Tuesday announcement. 

In recent months, SpartanNash has undertaken a series of changes to its portfolio of stores and warehouses. At the start of this year, the company bought Great Lakes Foods, an independent grocery wholesaler, along with its 300,000-square-foot distribution center that serves the Midwest region. 

Last June, SpartanNash bought Shop-N-Save Food Centers, a family-owned chain of three grocery stores in northwestern Michigan. The company then announced in October it offloaded four distribution facilities to an investment firm in a nearly $30 million deal.

The following month, SpartanNash revealed during its inaugural investor day in November that it would consolidate its supermarkets under four banners — Family Fare, Supermercado, Martin’s and D&W — to sharpen its value proposition with shoppers. Masiar Tayebi, executive vice president and chief strategy and information officer for the company, said at the time that Family Fare will comprise SpartanNash’s mass market stores, while upmarket stores will sport the Martin’s and D&W names and ethnic stores will get receive the Supermercado brand.

SpartanNash operates more than 140 grocery stores in nine states, per its website. 

The remodels and rebrandings come against the backdrop of SpartanNash’s lackluster financial performance and pressure from investors. SpartanNash saw net earnings fall more than 41%, to $11.3 million, in its first-quarter 2023 results and plummet 97%, to $0.7 million, for its Q4 2022 results. 

Last year SpartanNash overcame a revolt by activist investors who took issue with the company’s strategy and performance results.