Supervalu Buys Central Grocers Distribution Center

Supervalu has agreed to purchase Central Grocers’ distribution center in Joliet, Ill., following the Joliet-based cooperative’s bankruptcy filing, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Based in Eden Prairie, Minn., Supervalu Holdings entered into the agreement to purchase the distribution center for $61 million, the newspaper said. A bankruptcy court approved the deal July 25, despite objections from unsecured creditors arguing that the purchase price was “well below” the appraised value.

The news comes about two weeks after members of the founding families of Northwest Indiana’s hometown grocery chain Strack & Van Til successfully bid on 20 stores in a bankruptcy auction. Strack & Van Til President and CEO Jeff Strack, members of the Strack and Van Til families, and others joined forces to buy the stores after selling the chain to Central two decades ago.

Supervalu also recently purchased Commerce, Calif.-based wholesaler Unified Grocers in a $375 million deal that architects, at the time of the deal, said will create a company that’s “uniquely positioned to efficiently serve a broad range of independent customers and offer a diverse array of value-added services, helping customers compete in an increasingly demanding grocery environment.” The deal, inked in April, brought together two complementary wholesale organizations that had a combined sales of about $16 billion in 2016.