UPDATE: The announcement to sell 21 stores was released on March 14.
Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Supervalu Inc., under pressure from activist investors for “drastic change,” in its business has industry observers wondering what’s happening with its 38-store Farm Fresh division.
Farm Fresh, based in Virginia Beach, Va., is in the eye of a perfect storm of fierce retail competition, from nearly every channel.
Over the past few years, the region’s gotten new names like Lidl, Aldi, Wegmans and even Publix making its way into North Carolina.
The Virginian-Pilot has a fantastic map showing all of the retail competition surrounding Farm Fresh.
The company said in a statement it has had discussions and meetings with investor representatives, but discussions got nowhere.
“Despite our efforts to reach a constructive path forward and to discuss overlapping objectives,” Supervalu said, in a statement,” Blackwells has decided to threaten an unnecessary and counterproductive proxy contest.”
So, stay tuned. I’ll be watching Farm Fresh, and the rest of Supervalu’s retail banners.