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Jim Pattison Group acquires Save Mart

California retailer says management team remains in place

Mark Hamstra

June 27, 2024

2 Min Read
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Modesto, Calif.-based Save Mart operates nearly 200 supermarkets under the Save Mart, Lucky, FoodMaxx, and Maxx Value banners in California and Nevada.Save Mart

The Jim Pattison Group, a Canadian conglomerate operating multiple businesses in Canada and the U.S., has acquired Save Mart Cos. from the private equity firm that has owned the retailer since 2022.

The current management team of Save Mart, including Executive Chairman Shane Sampson, will remain in place, a spokesperson for Save Mart told Supermarket News. The spokesperson said further information about the sale has not yet been disclosed. A spokesperson for The Jim Pattison Group could not be reached for comment.

Modesto, Calif.-based Save Mart operates nearly 200 supermarkets under the Save Mart, Lucky, FoodMaxx, and Maxx Value banners in California and Nevada. The retailer had been owned by private equity firm Kingswood Capital Management since 2022.

According to an online post by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 8-Golden State, which represents 6,000 union workers at Save Mart, the acquisition also includes Save Mart’s Yosemite Wholesale and Save Mart office divisions. Save Mart indicated that it intends to continue normal operations, the union said.

Save Mart was founded by Nick Tocco and Mike Piccinini in 1952 and operated by the Piccinini family as California’s largest family-owned grocer up until its acquisition by Kingswood Capital Management.

Related:Save Mart expands with Instacart

The Pattison Food Group division of the Jim Pattison Group, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, is one of the largest grocery wholesalers in Canada, serving more than 2,000 independent retailers. It also operates several retail banners in Canada, including Save-On Foods, which is one of the largest food retailers in Western Canada, as well as Quality Foods, Choices Markets, and others.

In 2021 the Pattison Food Group expanded into the U.S. with the acquisition of Salem, Ore.-based Roth’s Fresh Markets, a nine-store retailer serving Oregon’s mid-Willamette Valley, about 380 miles north of Save Mart’s northernmost locations.
 

 

About the Author

Mark Hamstra

Mark Hamstra is a freelance business writer with experience covering a range of topics and industries, including food and mass retailing, the restaurant industry, direct/mobile marketing, and technology. Before becoming a freelance business journalist, Mark spent 13 years at Supermarket News, most recently as Content Director, where he was involved in all areas of editorial planning and production for print and online. Earlier in his career he also worked as a reporter and editor at other business publications, including Financial Technology, Direct Marketing News, Nation’s Restaurant News and Drug Store News.

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