Associated Wholesale Grocers to Buy Dahl’s

Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) has offered to purchase 10 Dahl’s Foods stores for $4.8 million following the Iowa-based grocer's $41 million Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on Nov. 9. The bankruptcy filing allows the stores to remain open and operational during the transition.

"Our board has approved the sale of the company, which will ensure that the stores come out of this stage successfully. Right now, our focus is on preserving our workforce and continuing to provide a competitive and connected store experience for customers," said Craig Moore, Dahl's CEO, in a local news report.

AWG, which is acquiring the operating assets of Dahl’s, plans to remodel and update the stores, which are located in the Des Moines metro area, as well as build a new brand identity for the banner.

"The current team at Dahl's had commenced rebuilding this chain and we believe they have a good plan but the financial position they found themselves in was just too big to overcome," said Jerry Garland, president and CEO of AWG. “Our intentions for entering into the agreement to purchase Dahl’s Foods are to provide an opportunity for a member of our cooperative to successfully enter the Des Moines grocery market, with some good locations, and to gain a strong and experienced workforce, which is already in the stores.”

Kansas City-based AWG, a member-owned cooperative, serves 3,000 stores under the Price Chopper, Thriftway, IGA, CashSaver, Apple Market, Country Mart, and Sun Fresh banners. It has been speculated that the Dahl's stores will be rebranded as Price Chopper, which operates in Kansas and Missouri.