Roundy's Supermarkets (also known as Roundy's) is an American
supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...
operator. It owns and operates stores under the names of Pick 'n Save, Metro Market, and
Mariano's Fresh Market. The chain is a
subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of
Kroger. Roundy's operates 149
supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...
s and 107 pharmacies throughout the states of
Wisconsin and
Illinois. Based on fiscal year 2012 sales, Roundy's was the 37th largest grocery store chain
and the 89th largest
retailer in the United States. As of December 2015, Roundy's became a subsidiary of Kroger of
Cincinnati, Ohio.
Roundy's operates food production facilities in
Kenosha and other locations and has two main distribution centers in
Mazomanie and
Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
The company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on February 8, 2012,
and ceased trading on December 18, 2015, when it became a subsidiary of Kroger.
History
The company was founded in 1872 in Milwaukee as Smith, Roundy & Co. by
William E. Smith, Judson Roundy and Sidney Hauxhurst.
Roundy's was a major warehouse distributor to non-company supermarkets, including
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* Ambush at Iga Pass, a 1958 Japanese film
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, but it moved out of the wholesale market to focus on retail.
Roundy's was taken private in 2002 through purchase by the Chicago private-equity firm
Willis Stein & Partners. A strong effort was made in 2007 to sell Roundy's, but because of softness in the credit markets, there were no takers.
Roundy's took the company public via an
initial public offering (IPO) in 2012, posting an initial share price of $8.50 per share.
Beginning in 2002, the CEO of the corporation was
Robert "Chairman Bob" Mariano, who had been the CEO of
Dominick's prior to Dominick's sale to
Safeway
Safeway is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, d ...
in 1998.
On December 2, 2013, Roundy's and Mariano announced it would purchase 11 Dominick's stores to rebrand them as Mariano's, after Safeway finished closing the chain early in 2014.
On November 11, 2015, Roundy's announced its sale to the Kroger, a deal valued at $800 million including debt, which was completed on December 18, 2015.
Following completion of the sale, Roundy's retained its headquarters in Milwaukee. It was suggested that Kroger primarily was interested in the Mariano's division, as Kroger had not been active in the Chicago market, and normally the company isn't interested in acquiring chains in financial difficulty—the Roundy's divisions in Wisconsin had been, and continue to be, in decline.
The sale of Roundy's to Cincinnati-based Kroger, about two years after Safeway shut down its Chicago-based
Dominick's supermarket chain, selling many of the stores to other operators, was a matter discussed in the regional business press.
CEO Bob Mariano retired on September 1, 2016.
Banners and brands
Roundy's includes three front-facing brands and one former brand while Roundy's is used mainly as a
private label brand.
* Pick 'n Save stores are
warehouse food store concept in 1975, but over time with the decline of former competitor
Kohl's Food Stores under its
A&P ownership and major changes to
Piggly Wiggly, now operates as a traditional supermarket chain.
* Metro Market, a smaller-store concept, launched in 2004, prevalent in the
Milwaukee and Madison markets, mainly competing with Sendik's,
Trader Joe's and
Whole Foods Market.
*
Mariano's Fresh Market, the same concept as Metro Market in the Chicago market; named for former Roundy's CEO "Chairman" Bob Mariano. Mariano's was launched in 2010.
* Copps Food Centers was acquired by Roundy's in 2001. Several attempts were made to convert those stores to the Pick 'n Save name under Roundy's ownership, which were generally unsuccessful and scattered due to customer sentiment against the rebranding. Kroger finally completed the rebranding of Copps locations to Pick 'n Save in 2017.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{Kroger
Companies based in Milwaukee
Kroger
Retail companies established in 1872
1872 establishments in Wisconsin
Supermarkets of the United States
2015 mergers and acquisitions