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Village Super Market closes out fiscal 2020 on up note

Sales jump 20% in fourth quarter, with online sales surging 240%

Russell Redman

October 8, 2020

3 Min Read
Village_Super_Market_store_entrance-Stroudsburg_PA.jpg
Village Super Market got a sales lift in fiscal 2020 with the opening of a replacement ShopRite store at the Stroud Mall in Stroudsburg, Pa.Village Super Market

Village Super Market Inc., a ShopRite operator and member of the Wakefern Food Corp. cooperative, saw sales climb nearly 20% in the fiscal 2020 fourth quarter, finishing the year with sales growth of almost 10%.

For the quarter ended July 25, sales totaled $501.5 million, up 19.9% from $418.4 billion a year earlier, Springfield, N.J.-based Village Super Market said yesterday. The retailer attributed the gain to a 7.5% uptick in same-store sales plus the addition of five Fairway Market stores in May, the opening of a replacement ShopRite store in Stroudsburg, Pa., in November, and the acquisition of New York City specialty market Gourmet Garage last June.

“Same-store sales increased due primarily to increased customer demand across most stores as a result of the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Village Super Market said in a statement. “Following the outbreak, average basket sizes increased and transaction counts decreased as customers consolidated shopping trips.”

Digital sales skyrocketed 240% year over year in the quarter, including both the ShopRite from Home and third-party online grocery pickup and delivery services.

“Sales in Gourmet Garage and Fairway have declined significantly compared to historical levels, due primarily to population migration out of Manhattan during the pandemic,” the company added.

Related:Village Super Market reports nearly 16% jump in Q3 sales

For the 2020 fiscal year, sales came in at just over $1.8 billion, up 9.8% from $1.64 billion in fiscal 2019. Same-store sales rose 5.3% — spurred by “unprecedented levels” of growuth in March when the COVID outbreak took hold — and digital sales climbed 83% for the full year, Village Super Market said.

On the earnings side, net income grew 37.2% to $9.2 million in the fourth quarter from $6.7 million a year ago. Village Super Market noted that the period reflects gains of $1.9 million (net of tax) from Superstorm Sandy insurance proceeds, $2.5 million from a federal net operating loss carryback and $1.4 million (net of tax) from the breakup of its initial bid for the Fairway stores, as well as $2.2 million in costs related to the Fairway acquisition. Excluding those items, plus a tax benefit from the prior-year period, net earnings fell 6% year over year, the company reported.

Reported earnings per share for the quarter were 71 cents for Class A common stock and 46 cents for Class B common stock, compared with 52 cents and 34 cents, respectively, a year earlier. Diluted share earnings were 63 cents for Class A and 46 cents for Class B stock versus 47 cents and 34 cents, respectively, in the year-ago period.

Related:Fairway Market to sell two N.J. store leases to Amazon

Fiscal 2020 net income dipped 2.3% to $24.9 million from $25.5 million in 2019. On an adjusted basis, net earnings declined 8% for the year, Village Super Market said.

Full-year EPS for 2020 was $1.93 for Class A common stock and $1.25 for Class B common stock, compared with $1.98 and $1.29, respectively, a year ago. Diluted share earnings were $1.72 for Class A and $1.25 for Class B stock versus $1.77 and $1.29, respectively, in fiscal 2019.

Village Super Market added the Fairway Market store banner during the third quarter. In March, the company won an auction for five Fairway stores as part of that chain’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Village Super Market paid $76 million for four of Fairway’s Manhattan stores (Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Chelsea and Kips Bay, plus the parking lot of the Harlem store) and its Pelham Manor store in New York’s Westchester County. Village, too, acquired Fairway’s production and distribution center in the Bronx. 

Overall, Village Super Market owns and operates 35 supermarkets under the ShopRite and Fairway banners in New Jersey, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania plus three Gourmet Garage specialty markets in New York City.

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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