Two ShopRite owners sell to other ShopRIte owners

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. No non-grocery posts.
Post Reply
marketreportblog
Produce Manager
Produce Manager
Posts: 224
Joined: July 9th, 2021, 7:40 pm
Location: New Jersey / New York
Has thanked: 145 times
Been thanked: 81 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Two ShopRite owners sell to other ShopRIte owners

Post by marketreportblog »

Glass Gardens, a ShopRite operator based in Rochelle Park, NJ has acquired Brookdale ShopRite's two stores in Bloomfield and Newark, effective earlier this month. Now, Food Trade News reports that Ammons Supermarkets, a ShopRite operator with two Philadelphia stores and one in South Jersey, is selling their business to Brown's Super Stores. This brings Glass Gardens to 13 stores (all ShopRites) and Brown's to 19 stores (12 ShopRites, 2 Fresh Grocers, 5 DiBruno Bros specialty markets).

In unrelated but somewhat similar transactions, two NJ stores in the Key Food coop have changed ownership but are staying in the cooperative and keeping their brands. The Food Universe in Clifton was sold to the owners of two nearby SuperFresh stores, and the SuperFresh in Linden was sold but I can't tell to whom.

ShopRite operators have been consolidating for a while, and there are only a handful of single-store or small group operators today. My perception is that the consolidation is more rapid lately. There are still some single-store operators left in the cooperative, though relatively few compared to the past and compared to other cooperatives. I can think of five stores off the top of my head that are single-store owners: Hillside, Little Falls, Carteret, Passaic, and Lincoln Park, all in NJ. There's a couple more operators who have only a few stores.

Here's some of the ShopRite transactions from the last few years. Am I missing any?
  • 2025 - Brown's acquires Ammons
  • 2025 - Glass Gardens acquires Brookdale
  • 2021 - SRS acquires Oakland
  • 2020 - Zallie stores consolidate, bringing 11 stores previously owned by different family members under a single person's ownership
I'm not aware of any other transactions where one ShopRite owner bought out another before those until you go back to 2012 when Village Super Market acquired Charles Shakoor's single store in Old Bridge, NJ. I don't know what that says about the current state of Wakefern -- my best guess is that it simply suggests a large number of their operators are reaching retirement age -- but I do notice that they seem to be shrinking a bit more than growing these days, although I also don't think overall Wakefern is in any danger and they're still an absolute powerhouse. But it's intriguing that so many similar transactions seem to be happening in a relatively short time.
Last edited by marketreportblog on February 3rd, 2025, 4:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
storewanderer
Posts: 17911
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 595 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Two ShopRite owners sell to other ShopRIte owners

Post by storewanderer »

It has gotten more and more difficult for the smaller operators. While many of these appear to be retirements, it speaks volumes no family members want to keep going in the business.
BillyGr
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1876
Joined: October 5th, 2010, 7:33 pm
Been thanked: 99 times
Status: Offline

Re: Two ShopRite owners sell to other ShopRIte owners

Post by BillyGr »

storewanderer wrote: January 21st, 2025, 11:28 pm It has gotten more and more difficult for the smaller operators. While many of these appear to be retirements, it speaks volumes no family members want to keep going in the business.
Though one would have to think it is a bit easier for these smaller operators, having a brand that is so well known behind them.

Seems that this is not all that uncommon in many businesses, that others just go into things they prefer and don't want to take over a business just because it was started by a family member.

Maybe moreso now than in the past, not sure if it is the businesses themselves or just that the family members have more other options than would have been the case previously.
Post Reply