Jordan Wilcox
Assistant Publisher
Our Family and Spartan – two brands so prevalent in the Michigan grocery scene that it’s almost impossible not to purchase at least one of their products during a visit to any local grocery store.
SpartanNash is the Kent County-based owner of these brands. Originally founded as a 43 grocer-cooperative in 1917, they’ve been supplying local stores with groceries for over a century.
In 1957, the cooperative adopted the Spartan name, and in the 1970s became a for-profit corporation.
Later on, Spartan began acquiring many of the beloved grocery chains they supplied. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, they bought Ashcraft’s, D&Ws, Family Fare, Felspauch, Glen’s, Martin’s, and ValuLand.
In 2013, Spartan also acquired the Nash Finch Company, a major grocery distributor in Minnesota, and founder of the Our Family brand. It was at this time that the company became known as SpartanNash and started to use the Our Family brand instead of the Spartan Foods brand.
Nowadays, SpartanNash is a Fortune 400 company and one of the biggest in the grocery industry. It has over 20,000 employees and operates in two different segments, wholesale and grocery retail.
Their wholesale business supplies most of Michigan’s independent grocery stores with their groceries, and their global supply chain network serves wholesale customers that include independent and chain grocers, national retail brands, and e-commerce platforms. They also supply over 550 U.S. military commissaries and exchanges, which many industry experts have called the “crown jewel” of grocery distribution.
Here in Clare County, SpartanNash supplies both independent grocers, Witbecks in Clare and Carrows in Farwell.
On the retail side, SpartanNash operates nearly 200 brick-and-mortar grocery stores, primarily under the banners of Family Fare, Martin’s Super Markets, and D&W Fresh Market, in addition to dozens of pharmacies and fuel centers.
However, despite its grandeur, SpartanNash has been struggling to grow, and as of recently has been struggling financially too.
According to supermarketnews.com and SpartanNash’s close consultant Burt Flickinger, the company reported a 3% decline in their wholesale division last year, and their share price has been trending downwards. Flickinger says it’s dropped by nearly 50% since 2022.
So, to the rescue comes C&S Wholesale Grocers, who announced last week that they will be acquiring SpartanNash for a whopping $1.77 billion or $26.90 per share of common stock in cash.
C&S is headquartered in Keene, New Hampshire, and is the eighth-largest privately held company in the United States. According to their website, they service over 7,500 independent supermarkets, chain stores, military bases, and institutions, with over 100,000 different products. Some of their more known clients include Target, Giant and Food Lion on the East Coast, and Winn-Dixie and Harveys in the South.
C&S also owns a few grocery brands themselves, including the Piggly Wiggly name, which is franchised out to individuals, and has been making great strides to improve their Grand Union grocery stores in New York.
According to both companies, this acquisition will help with three things: better support for independent retailers, lower prices, and greater accessibility.
These benefits stem from the combined company’s nearly 60 distribution centers, 10,000 independent retail locations, and over 200 corporate-owned grocery stores – most of which come from Spartan.
They claim that, “being able to operate at a larger scale, backed by the combined innovative capabilities of C&S and SpartanNash, will lead to a more efficient supply chain as well as an ability to obtain the best possible delivered cost of goods and promotional discounts, which are expected to mean better pricing for community retailers and at the shelf for consumers. The stability of the combined organization will enable the merged company and its customers to better compete against several huge global grocers in the U.S. food-at-home space.”
They also promise to put affordable nutrition and pharmacy services in local communities at the forefront of their operations, providing families with access to fresh food, necessary prescription medications, and health services.
In a statement to industry media, Eric Winn, CEO of C&S, said, “This is an exciting opportunity for our team members, partners and, notably, our customers. Our company and SpartanNash share many of the same values, including a strong emphasis on customers, teamwork, and our communities. Together, we are uniting some of the most advanced capabilities and boldest innovations in the distribution market to better serve communities across the nation. At C&S, we have a legacy of braggingly happy customers, and our team members strive every day to take care of our customers’ stores as if they are our own. The combination of our two companies’ capabilities puts our collective customers’ stores and our own retail stores at the center of the plate, supporting their ability to thrive in a highly dynamic and competitive environment. Our customers need us more than ever, and we are building a sustainable platform for our team members to be able to support them long into the future.”
Tony Sarsam, President and CEO of SpartanNash, echoed similar sentiments. “We are energized by the opportunities this combination provides for our associates and customers. With our organizational values in close alignment, there will be exciting new career opportunities for our people and a continued commitment to a People First culture. For our customers, this transaction creates the necessary scale, efficiency, and purchasing power needed to enable independent retailers to compete more effectively with larger big-box chains. Neighborhood grocers are essential pillars of our communities that we want to preserve and strengthen. A thriving hometown grocery store supports local farmers, bolsters the local economy, and enhances the overall health and well-being of the community.”
The deal is expected to close in late 2025, subject to certain customary closing conditions, including, among other items, SpartanNash shareholder approval and applicable regulatory approvals. C&S has received financing commitment letters for the transaction.
Interestingly enough, C&S, among others, is also currently working on acquiring Southeastern Grocers too, another grocery wholesaler and retail operator in the South. They own the aforementioned Winn-Dixie and Harveys brands, which operate in five states. The deal is expected to close in 2027 and should add more efficiencies to a combined C&S-SpartanNash.
