Save Mart Supermarkets

Save Mart Supermarkets

Type	Private
Industry	Retail / Grocery
Founded	January 17, 1952 (January 17, 1952) Modesto, California, U.S.
Founders	Michael Piccinini and Nicholas Tocco
Headquarters	Modesto, California, U.S.
Number of locations	205
Key people	Robert M. Piccinini, Chairman/CEO (deceased) Steve Junqueiro, President/COO Frank Capps, EVP/CSO James Sims, VP/CIO
Products	Bakery, dairy, deli, frozen foods, general grocery, meat, pharmacy, produce, seafood, snacks, liquor
Revenue	US$4.5 billion (2016)[1]
Number of employees	16,000 (2016)[2]
Website	www.savemart.com

Save Mart Supermarkets (also known as The Save Mart Companies) is an American privately held company. It owns and operates supermarkets operating under the names of Save Mart, S-Mart Foods, Lucky and FoodMaxx located in Northern California and Northern Nevada (some of its stores are former Albertsons locations).

Background

Save Mart Supermarkets owns and operates 205 stores in Northern and Central California and Northern Nevada under the Save Mart, S-Mart Foods, Lucky, FoodMaxx and MaxxValue Foods banners.

Albertsons acquisition

On November 27, 2006, Save Mart announced an agreement to acquire 132 Albertsons stores in Northern California and Northern Nevada. Save Mart officially began operating the new stores in late February 2007, and the acquired stores will gradually be re-branded over the course of nine months.^[3] Those in the Bay Area are being rebranded Lucky, whereas the rest are being opened under the Save Mart banner.

Company history

• 1952 – January 17: The first Save Mart store opens in Modesto, California.
• 1973 – Yosemite Wholesale opens in Modesto.
• 1981 – Bob Piccinini is named president.
• 1984 – Save Mart Supermarkets partners with two other retailers to launch Mid-Valley Dairy, producer of Sunnyside Farms products. SMART Refrigerated Transport opens in Turlock.
• 1985 – Bob Piccinini purchases Save Mart Supermarkets and becomes CEO.
• 1986 – Save Mart Supermarkets moves its corporate headquarters to 1800 Standiford Avenue in Modesto. In partnership with the Fleming Company, the company opens its first two price-impact stores in Bakersfield, under the Food Maxx banner.
• 1988 – Save Mart Supermarkets partners with two other retailers to open Sunnyside Farms Dairy by-product plant in Turlock.
• 1989 – Save Mart Supermarkets acquires 27 Fry’s Supermarkets in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• 1991 – Save Mart Supermarkets helps found and becomes a voting partner in Super Store Industries (SSI).
• 1997 – Save Mart Supermarkets purchases 10 Lucky stores in the Central Valley.
• 2003 – Save Mart Supermarkets acquires 25 Food 4 Less stores and rebrands them FoodMaxx.
• 2007 – Save Mart Supermarkets acquires Albertsons stores in the Metro Sacramento area, San Francisco Bay Area, Central Valley, and Northern Nevada, and converts them to Lucky and Save Mart stores.

Banners and brands

Checkout lanes inside a Save Mart (formerly known as Albertsons) supermarket in Pacific Grove, California.

Save Mart Supermarkets encompasses a number of store banners and private label product brands.

Save Mart stores are full-service grocery stores with a broad product offering, including service and fresh food departments. Save Mart stores offer fresh products, bakery goods, deli foods and ethnic foods.

S-Mart Foods stores are full-service grocery stores operating in Stockton and Lodi, California. They provide the same offerings as the Save Mart full-service stores owned by the company in other Northern California and Northern Nevada markets. The Save Mart stores in Stockton and Lodi are not owned by Save Mart Supermarkets.

Lucky Supermarkets are full-service grocery stores operating in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their high-value offerings include fresh products, bakery and deli-prepared foods, and focused ethnic offerings.

FoodMaxx is a price-impact banner operating with a no-frills format. While the assortment of products at FoodMaxx stores is not as broad as in the company’s full-service banners, the stores provide fresh products. These stores offer products at warehouse-store prices to the consumer without a store club membership fee.

MaxxValue Foods is much like Save Mart while offering products at warehouse-store prices to the consumer without a store club membership fee.

Store brands

• Sunny Select – juices and foods
• Valu Time – packaged foods and general merchandise
• Sunnyside Farms – dairy and frozen foods
• Bayview Farms – dairy and frozen foods
• Pacific Coast Selections – fresh and packaged foods
• Pacific Coast Café – coffee
• Full Circle – organic packaged foods
• Master Cut – meats
• Maxx Value – meats
• Master Catch – fish and seafood
• Top Care – over-the-counter medications
• Paws Premium – pet food

Distribution infrastructure

Super Store Industries (Lathrop) capitalizes on the combined buying power of more than one privately owned grocery chain. Economies of scale enable the partners, including Save Mart Supermarkets, to purchase or produce products at low cost. They can then (if they wish) pass on the savings to their customers and maintain a competitive edge. SSI also produces and packages bottled beverages, cultured dairy products, and frozen dairy products for several brands, including Sunnyside Farms yogurt, Stater Brothers ice cream, and Minute Maid orange juice. SSI owns and operates Sunnyside Farms (Fairfield) and Sunnyside Farms Dairy (Turlock).^[4]

• Yosemite Wholesale (Merced) is a dry and packaged good warehouse servicing all of the company’s stores.
• Save Mart Supermarkets Distribution Center (Roseville service all of the company’s stores.
• SMART Refrigerated Transport (Lathrop) is a trucking firm that transports dry groceries, frozen foods, ice, and novelties to all of Save Mart Supermarkets’ stores. The company also works as an outside contractor hauling products for other retailers.

2011 Lucky Stores card-swipe thefts

In November 2011, hundreds of Lucky's customers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area reported being victims of card-swipe thefts the previous month that involved the placement of card-swiping equipment on the stores' self-serve checkout stands, including extra circuit boards. Card information of customers, including personal identification numbers (PIN) may have been retrieved by the criminals. Some customers reported having money withdrawn from their accounts. The company advised affected customers to contact their financial institutions.^[5] Lucky also advised some customers to close their accounts.

Store closures

Save Mart Supermarkets announced the closure of stores in Clovis, Delano, Elk Grove, Folsom, Fresno, Kerman, Merced, Milpitas, Modesto, Sanger, Tracy and Yuba City, due to competition, higher prices and other reasons.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]}

Controversies

2013 lawsuit

Save Mart Supermarkets was ordered by a judge to pay $2.55 million in civil penalties, costs and expenses for supplemental projects.^[17][18]

2015 lawsuit

Save Mart Supermarkets was ordered by a judge to pay thousands in back pay and damages to distribution center workers in Vacaville (now closed) and Roseville.^[19][20]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Save Mart Supermarkets.

• Save Mart website
• FoodMaxx website
• Lucky website
• Save Mart Center at Fresno State website
• MaxxValue Foods website