Many companies changed positions on SN's list of the Top 75 retailers and wholesalers in 1994, and many of the moves were fueled by mergers and acquisitions.
sly No. 13) moved the new Fleming to the second-largest company, behind only Kroger Co. Fleming also edged ahead of the nation's other giant wholesaler, Supervalu. Looking further down SN's list of the Top 75 food distributors, it was another wholesaler -- Richfood -- that made the biggest jump upward during the year, moving from No. 61 to No. 50 through the acquisition of the civilian division of B. Green and aggressive growth by some of its larger retail customers, including Farm Fresh. Richfood's upward mobility propelled it past three fellow wholesalers: Grocers Supply Co., Super Food Services and Twin County Grocers. On the retail side: · Albertson's rose two notches to the No. 6 spot, moving past Winn-Dixie Stores, whose sales were flat, and A&P, whose sales were down. · Penn Traffic Co. moved up five notches to 22nd, reflecting its acquisition of Insalaco Markets and consolidation of its distribution operations. · Dominick's Finer Foods went from 39th to 30th place on the strength of its Omni format. · Harris Teeter moved from 49th to 40th on the strength of its aggressive remodeling program. · Jitney Jungle went from 65th to 55th to move past several companies that struggled financially, including Eagle Food Centers and Kash n' Karry Food Stores. Among chains going the other way: · Two Canadian companies moved down slightly because of problems in their U.S. divisions: Loblaw from ninth to 12th place, reflecting the impact of an extended strike in its New Orleans operation early in the year; and Provigo from 15th to 16th because of problems in its California operations, which were sold late in the year. · Grand Union Co. fell from 26th to 31st place as it struggled to shore up its operations in upstate New York and New England. Joining the list in 1994 was Associated Food Stores, Salt Lake City.
RANK COMPANY TOP EXECUTIVE SALES IN
BILLIONS
1. Kroger Co. Joseph A. Pichler $22.4
Cincinnati chairman, CEO
2. Fleming Cos. Robert E. Stauth $19.1 (A)
Oklahoma City chairman, president,
CEO
3. American Stores Co. Victor L. Lund $18.8 (B)
Salt Lake City president, CEO
4. Supervalu Michael W. Wright $15.9
Minneapolis chairman, president, (25% retail)
CEO
5. Safeway Steven Burd $15.2
Oakland, Calif. president, CEO
6. Albertson's Gary G. Michael $11.3
Boise, Idaho chairman, CEO
7. Winn-Dixie Stores A. Dano Davis $11.1
Jacksonville, Fla. chairman
8. A&P James Wood $10.4
Montvale, N.J. chairman, CEO
9. Food Lion Tom E. Smith $7.6
Salisbury, N.C. chairman, president,
CEO
10. Publix Super Market Howard Jenkins $7.5
Lakeland, Fla. chairman, CEO
11. Ahold USA Robert Zwartendijk $7.2 (C)
Parsippany, N.J. president, CEO
12. Loblaw Cos. Richard J. Currie $6.8**
Toronto president (71% retail)
13. Vons Cos. Larry Del Santo $5.1
Arcadia, Calif. vice chairman, CEO
14. H-E-B Grocery Co. Charles C. Butt $4.9*
San Antonio chairman, president
15. Meijer Doug Miejer, Hank $4.5*
Grand Rapids, Mich. Miejer, co-chairmen
16. Provigo Pierre L. Mignault $4.5** Montreal president, CEO (37% retail)
17. Pathmark Stores Jack Futterman $4.2
Woodbridge, N.J. chairman, CEO
18. Oshawa Group Allister P. Graham $4.1**
Etobicoke, Ontario chairman, CEO (18.4% retail)
19. Wakefern Food Corp. Thomas Infusino $3.7
Elizabeth, N.J. chairman (10% retail)
20. Stop & Shop Cos. Lewis G. Schaeneman Jr $3.6
Boston chairman, CEO
21. Giant Food Israel Cohen $3.57
Landover, Md. chairman, president,
CEO
22. Penn Traffic Co. Gary D. Hirsch $3.2
Syracuse, N.Y. chairman
23. Fred Meyer Inc. Robert G. Miller $3.0
Portland, Ore. chairman, CEO (37.5% food, 62.5% nonfood)
24. Bruno's Ronald G. Bruno $2.83
Birmingham, Ala. chairman, CEO
25. Smith's Food & Jeffrey P. Smith $2.81
Drug Centers chairman, CEO
Salt Lake City
26. Ralph's Grocery Co. Byron Allumbaugh $2.73
Compton, Calif.(D) chairman, CEO
27. Nash Finch Co. Alfred N. Flaten $2.7
Minneapolis president, CEO (31% retail)
28. Associated Whole- Michael DeFabias $2.61
sale Grocers president, CEO
Kansas City, Kan.
29. Food 4 Less Ron Burkle $2.59
Supermarkets (D) chairman, CEO
La Habra, Calif.
30. Dominick's Finer Daniel Josephs $2.5*
Foods president
Northlake, Ill. CEO
31. Grand Union Co. Gary D. Hirsch $2.48
Wayne, N.J. chairman
32. Hy-Vee Food Stores Ronald Pearson $2.48
Chariton, Iowa chairman, president,
CEO
33. Roundy's John R. Dickson $2.48
Pewaukee, Wis. chairman, president,
CEO
34. Randalls Food Ronald Onstead $2.3*
Market chairman, CEO
Houston
35 Spartan Stores Patrick M. Quinn $2.2
Grand Rapids, Mich. president, CEO
36. Metro-Richelieu Pierre Lessard $2.1**
Montreal president, CEO
37. Hannaford Bros. James L. Moody Jr. $2.05
Scarborough, Maine chairman
38. Giant Eagle David Shapira $1.99*
Pittsburgh CEO
39. Shaw's Supermarkets Phil Francis $1.97
East Bridgewater, president, CEO
Mass.
40. Harris Teeter Edward S. Dunn Jr. $1.9
Charlotte, N.C. president
41. Certified Grocers Al Plamann $1.87
of California president, CEO
42. C&S Wholesale Rick Cohen $1.84
Grocers chairman, CEO
Brattleboro, Vt.
43. Raley's Chuck Collings $1.8
West Sacramento, president, CEO
Calif.
44. Wegmans Food Market Robert Wegman $1.8
Rochester, N.Y. chairman, CEO
45. Stater Bros. Market Jack Brown $1.6
Colton, Calif. chairman, president
CEO
46. Aldi Phillip R. Neally $1.5*
Batavia, Ill. chairman, president
47. Weis markets Sigfried Weis $1.4
Sunbury, Pa. president
48. DeMoulas Super- T.A. DeMoulas $1.4*
markets president, CEO
Tewksbury, Mass.
49. Super Rite Corp. Alex Grass $1.3 Harrisburg, Pa. chairman, CEO (20% retail)
50. Richfood Donald C. Bennett $1.275
Mechanicsville, Va. president, CEO
51. Marsh Supermarkets Don E. Marsh $1.26
Indianapolis chairman, president,
CEO
52. Pueblo Xtra Gustavo Cisneros $1.2
International chairman
Pompano Beach, Fla.
53. Schnuck Markets Craig D. Schunck $1.2
St. Louis chairman, CEO
54. Alex Lee (E) Boyd George $1.16
Hickory, N.C. chairman, president, (25% retail)
CEO
55. Jitney Jungle Store W.H. Holman Jr. $1.15
Jackson, Miss. chairman, president
56. Save Mart Super- Robert M. Piccinini $1.15
markets chairman, CEO
Modesto, Ca.
57. Twin County Grocers James A. Burke $1.15
Edison, N.J. president
58. Ingles Markets Robert P. Ingle $1.14
Black Mountain, chairman, CEO
N.C.
59. Price Chopper Lewis Golub $1.14*
Supermarkets chairman, CEO
Schenectady, N.Y.
60. Super Food Services Jack Twyman $1.13
Miamisburg, Ohio chairman, CEO
61. Riser Foods Anthony C. Rego $1.12
Bedford Heights, chairman, CEO (50% retail)
Ohio
62. Associated Grocers Donald W. Benson $1.1
Seattle president, CEO
63. Grocers Supply Co. Max Levit, Milton $1.1*
Houston Levit, co-CEO's
64. Kash n' Karry Tony Petrillo $1.09
Food Stores acting chairman
Tampa, Fla.
65. Hughes Family Roger K. Hughes $1.08
Markets chairman
Irwindale, Calif.
66. Delchamps Randy Delchamps $1.07
Mobile, Ala. chairman, CEO
67. Eagle Food Centers Pat Petitti $1.06
Milan, Ill. president, CEO
68. Foodland Distribu- Gregory Gallus $.96
ters chairman
Livonia, Mich.
69. United Grocers Alan C. Jones $.954
Portland, Ore. president, CEO
70. White Rose Foods Stephan Bokser $.95
Somerset, N.J. president, CEO
71. Furr's Supermarkets Jan Friederich $.95*
Albuquerque, N.M. chairman
72. Farm Fresh Michael E. Julian $.89
Norfolk, Va. president, CEO
73. Purity Supermarkets Peter Sodini $.88
North Billerica, chairman, president,
Mass. CEO
74. Associated Food Richard Parkinson $.81
Stores president, CEO
Salt Lake City
75. Homeland Stores Max Raydon $.81
Oklahoma City president
* Denotes industry estimate for fiscal 1994.
** Volume for all Canadian companies is listed in U.S. dollars.
(A) Includes sales of $6.2 billion from Scrivner Inc., Oklahoma City, which Fleming acquired in July 1994
(B) Includes sales of $840 million from Star Market Co., Cambridge, Mass., which American sold in September 1994.
(C) Includes sales of $550 million from Red Food Stores, Chattanooga, Tenn., which Ahold USA acquired in 1994.
(D) Ralphs and Food 4 Less are scheduled to merge sometime in January.
(E) Alex Lee is a holding company for Merchants Distributers, Hickory, N.C., and Lewis Food Stores, Winston-Salem, N.C.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
IGA, the Chicago-based network of independent operators, accounts for domestic volume of $10.6 billion. Virtually all of that volume is included in the sales numbers for the IGA stores' 21 wholesale suppliers.
