Schnucks to grow 51 stores bigger

Festival Foods and Hometown Grocers will soon find themselves under new ownership.

Schnuck Markets, Inc., CEO and Chairman Todd Schnuck announced in a press release on Tuesday that the Schnuck family will purchase 100% of the shares of the Wisconsin-based parent company of Skogen’s Festival Foods and Hometown Grocers, Inc., formerly held by Festival Foods and Hometown Grocers CEO Mark Skogen and associates in their Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

The purchase includes 51 stores in total across the state, 42 operating under the Festival Foods banner. The other nine stores are Dave’s Country Market, Denny’s Supervalu, Don’s Quality Market, Lake Mills Market, Lakewood Supervalu, Super Ron’s Food Center, Thompson’s Country Market, Thorp Supervalu and Wittenberg Sentry Foods.

“Our family is honored to be entrusted with the Skogen family legacy, one that began serving Wisconsin communities in 1946 and continued for decades under the leadership of Dave and Barb and later under Mark as CEO,” said Schnuck. “Schnucks, Skogen Festival Foods and Hometown Grocers share a strikingly similar set of core values, tracing our success to decades of consistently focusing on the communities we serve, the values we share and the ongoing quest for excellence in grocery retail. With this combination, we’re welcoming more than 8k associates to our family, unifying two family legacies and redefining what it means to be a regional grocer.”

Upon completion of the purchase, Schnucks, Festival Foods and Hometown Grocers will maintain their existing corporate headquarters and operate as separate sister companies with shared support by the 1939 Group, which is also owned by the Schnuck family. Schnucks anticipates that the closing will be completed toward the end of October, following customary review and approval.