Pattison Food Group And Their Stores In The US

[GMJim]

Now that Pattison Food Group owns Roth's Fresh Markets and Chuck's Fresh Markets, does anyone think they may purchase additional stores in the United States? How are their operations in Canada?

[marshd1000]

I have been in their Save-On-Foods, Urban Fare and Price Smart Foods stores in British Columbia. Save-On is close to a Safeway in terms of product mix and operation. They acquired Safeway on Vancouver Island as Sobeys already had Thrifty Foods. Urban Fare is similar to Metropolitian Market. Price Smart is a warehouse type store that focuses on the Asian community. I think Pattison should be acquiring QFC and Haggen if the Kroger merger were to go through!

[marshd1000]

They may want to acquire more stores. Perhaps Town & Country would be a good fit? Maybe URM/Rosauer's?

[storewanderer]

I don't find them to be a very good operator. They'd be a distant fourth choice if I were shopping up in BC (I'd go to Sobeys Safeway over them or even Wal Mart Supercentre, they are really that "not very good"). Their mix and pricing just isn't there. Quality at "Price Smart Foods" is particularly questionable and prices seem not great. URM/Rosauer's is probably a logical fit for them... I'd hate to see what they'd do to it, and the prices... maybe they wouldn't change much.

[babs]

Eventually Market of Choice will sell out. Either these guys or Good Food group would seem to be the most likely buyer.

[ClownLoach]

Eventually Market of Choice will sell out. Either these guys or Good Food group would seem to be the most likely buyer.

Good Food has serious problems with the struggling Bristol Farms chain and doesn't need to be taking on any more acquisitions until they can resolve their problem stores. It is being alleged the company flagship store may be closing down after less than two years in operation which would be a loss of a massive investment, tens of millions of dollars. They have other new stores that are struggling too. They need to get their ship in order before spending on anything else.

Remember that Canadian retailers are paying a premium for anything they buy, meaning that they need to be getting a tremendous bargain to invest in American businesses otherwise they'll lose a fortune. So unless the asset is distressed there is no reason for a Canadian business to buy. They are also struggling with inflation there along with the devalued currency. There is a reason why you see so few mergers outside of the financial industry involving Canadian buyers.

[babs]

Eventually Market of Choice will sell out. Either these guys or Good Food group would seem to be the most likely buyer.

Good Food has serious problems with the struggling Bristol Farms chain and doesn't need to be taking on any more acquisitions until they can resolve their problem stores. It is being alleged the company flagship store may be closing down after less than two years in operation which would be a loss of a massive investment, tens of millions of dollars. They have other new stores that are struggling too. They need to get their ship in order before spending on anything else.

Remember that Canadian retailers are paying a premium for anything they buy, meaning that they need to be getting a tremendous bargain to invest in American businesses otherwise they'll lose a fortune. So unless the asset is distressed there is no reason for a Canadian business to buy. They are also struggling with inflation there along with the devalued currency. There is a reason why you see so few mergers outside of the financial industry involving Canadian buyers.

And to that point, New Seasons stores seem far less busy than they used to be. The guy if the deli has been ripped out due to declining sales, replaced my premade sandwiches and pizza. They're new store locations seem odd too. Milwaukee and Downtown Vancouver aren't exactly hotbeds for well heeled customers.

[storewanderer]

Eventually Market of Choice will sell out. Either these guys or Good Food group would seem to be the most likely buyer.

Good Food has serious problems with the struggling Bristol Farms chain and doesn't need to be taking on any more acquisitions until they can resolve their problem stores. It is being alleged the company flagship store may be closing down after less than two years in operation which would be a loss of a massive investment, tens of millions of dollars. They have other new stores that are struggling too. They need to get their ship in order before spending on anything else.

Remember that Canadian retailers are paying a premium for anything they buy, meaning that they need to be getting a tremendous bargain to invest in American businesses otherwise they'll lose a fortune. So unless the asset is distressed there is no reason for a Canadian business to buy. They are also struggling with inflation there along with the devalued currency. There is a reason why you see so few mergers outside of the financial industry involving Canadian buyers.

And to that point, New Seasons stores seem far less busy than they used to be. The guy if the deli has been ripped out due to declining sales, replaced my premade sandwiches and pizza. They're new store locations seem odd too. Milwaukee and Downtown Vancouver aren't exactly hotbeds for well heeled customers.

I don't think Good Food is a good fit for Market of Choice. I was going to say they have screwed up New Seasons/New Leaf (or they've gotten more screwed up under Good Food, I think they were already somewhat confused back when they sold to Good Food) but you've already summarized those points well.

Are there indications Market of Choice is looking to sell out?

Another interesting choice for Market of Choice could be Nugget. That would be an awesome fit. By far the best fit I can think of.

Holiday would also probably be a pretty good fit for Market of Choice. Not a perfect fit but pretty good fit.

Is Market of Choice union?

Pattison may make sense geographically for Market of Choice but that is about it. The jury is still out what exactly will end up of these stores in the US Pattison has bought. Will they unite them with Save Mart (given the Bob Miller connection) if Save Mart gets some divests out of the Kroger/Albertsons merger or what?

[retailfanmitchell019]

I have been in their Save-On-Foods, Urban Fare and Price Smart Foods stores in British Columbia. Save-On is close to a Safeway in terms of product mix and operation. They acquired Safeway on Vancouver Island as Sobeys already had Thrifty Foods. Urban Fare is similar to Metropolitian Market. Price Smart is a warehouse type store that focuses on the Asian community. I think Pattison should be acquiring QFC and Haggen if the Kroger merger were to go through!

Pattison Food Group is only in Western Canada.
Until 2013, Save-On-Foods was mostly in BC and northern Alberta. Save-On took advantage of Sobeys botching their Safeway Canada purchase by expanding into Southern Alberta (building aggressively in Calgary), and then Saskatchewan/Manitoba (their territory goes as far east as Winnipeg).

@storewanderer Perhaps Pattison will go into a “merger of equals” with Save Mart.
As for Market of Choice, I just wonder if Raley’s would be another suitor.

[ClownLoach]

I have been in their Save-On-Foods, Urban Fare and Price Smart Foods stores in British Columbia. Save-On is close to a Safeway in terms of product mix and operation. They acquired Safeway on Vancouver Island as Sobeys already had Thrifty Foods. Urban Fare is similar to Metropolitian Market. Price Smart is a warehouse type store that focuses on the Asian community. I think Pattison should be acquiring QFC and Haggen if the Kroger merger were to go through!

Pattison Food Group is only in Western Canada.
Until 2013, Save-On-Foods was mostly in BC and northern Alberta. Save-On took advantage of Sobeys botching their Safeway Canada purchase by expanding into Southern Alberta (building aggressively in Calgary), and then Saskatchewan/Manitoba (their territory goes as far east as Winnipeg).

@storewanderer Perhaps Pattison will go into a “merger of equals” with Save Mart.
As for Market of Choice, I just wonder if Raley’s would be another suitor.

Just the legal paperwork costs for an international "merger of equals" sounds like a costly train wreck. We also have no clue what the debt situations look like but American companies tend to be more debt ridden than Canadian. There are plenty of buyers in the US if a chain is put up for sale. As much as we all find the Canadian operators interesting they have no incentive to pay approximately 20%-30% more per dollar to buy an American company over another Canadian company due to exchange rate headwinds. Even in merger of equals there will be problems with taxation etc. that will make it less favorable. If the exchange rate reverses itself and the Canadian dollar gains substantial strength I could see a huge shopping spree occurring. Until then no deal.