MINNEAPOLIS -- Supervalu here has purchased a 530,000-square-foot distribution center in Perryman, Md., that will become the new site for its Maryland wholesale food division. The company will relocate the 170,000-square-foot Maryland division, now in Williamsport, Md., to the new location. The larger facility will enable Supervalu to create a regional frozen food operation by combining the frozens businesses from two other regional warehouses, said Rita Simmer, spokeswoman.
The frozens operation will create customized marketing programs for retail customers in the Maryland and Reading, Pa., divisions.
The company said it expects to phase the frozens business into the Perryman warehouse in the spring of 1995. Grocery product relocation will be completed by the fall of 1995.
Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.
Supervalu also plans to relocate its Save-A-Lot distribution operation from a leased location in Hagerstown, Md., to the Williamsport site. Supervalu operates 100 corporate stores under the Save-A-Lot banner and is the licensor for 350 additional units in the United States. Supervalu said the moves were part of its Supervalu Advantage plan, a broad initiative that involves a complete redesign of business practices and systems.
The company cited "important operating efficiencies, improved product buying position and new market expansion opportunities" in Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia as reasons for the shift. The frozens business is currently divided between two warehouses: a Cranston, R.I., warehouse that services the Reading, Pa., division and the Williamsport site. The purchases of the Perryman facility will create roughly 200 jobs within the next year, and Simmer said that number is expected to grow considerably over time.
