Dive Brief:
- The Save Mart Companies recently joined Canadian conglomerate The Jim Pattison Group, the grocery company confirmed in an email Friday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- Save Mart said Executive Chairman Shane Sampson and the rest of the grocer’s leadership team will remain with the company.
- The acquisition marks a new chapter for Save Mart, which was most recently under private equity ownership for two years.
Dive Insight:
Save Mart’s new owner has a wealth of experience across several industries.
The Jim Pattison Group, which is the parent company of supermarket chains Buy-Low Foods and Save-On-Foods, has investments in multiple industries, including the automotive, advertising, entertainment, forest products, packaging, and food and beverage sectors.
Sampson, who joined Save Mart in 2022 when private equity firm Kingswood Capital Management bought the company, is remaining its top executive.
“While The Save Mart Companies recently joined The Jim Pattison Group, our leadership, values, and commitment to our Associates and communities remains the same. … Our next chapter is primed for long-term, sustainable growth and innovation and we have full faith in a bright and enduring future,” Save Mart said in an emailed statement.
UFCW 8-Golden State, a California local under the United Food and Commercial Workers union, announced Tuesday it was informed of the sale of Save Mart’s supermarket operations and distribution center, which include Save Mart, Lucky, FoodMaxx, Maxx Value, Yosemite Wholesale and the Save Mart Office Division, to the Canadian conglomerate.
“[Our members] can be assured they have the benefit of solid successor language, guaranteeing the continuation of their benefits and labor contracts. Save Mart has also indicated it intends to continue normal operations and honor the language in our Union contracts,” said UFCW 8-Golden State.
The union, which represents nearly 6,000 Union employees at The Save Mart Companies throughout California, noted that it plans to have a new agreement for its members to vote on before its current contract with Save Mart expires later this year.
Save Mart said its headquarters will stay in Modesto, California.
Save Mart operates nearly 200 stores under the Save Mart, Lucky and FoodMaxx banners in California and Western Nevada and has more than 12,000 associates. The supermarket company says it is California’s largest regional, full-service grocery chain.
The deal comes at a time when merger and acquisition activity has heated up for regional grocers. Earlier this year, for example, Hy-Vee bought a 22-store grocery chain in northwest Indiana while SpartanNash picked up a three-store Wisconsin chain.
