Roundy's Supermarkets (also known as Roundy's) is an American supermarket 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 of

Kroger The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States. Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cinci ...

. Roundy's operates 149 supermarkets and 107 pharmacies throughout the states of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. Based on fiscal year 2012 sales, Roundy's was the 37th largest grocery store chain and the 89th largest

retailer Retail is the sale of goods and Service (economics), services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturing, manufacturers, dire ...

in the United States. As of December 2015, Roundy's became a subsidiary of Kroger of

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

. Roundy's operates food production facilities in

Kenosha Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenosh ...

and other locations and has two main distribution centers in Mazomanie and

Oconomowoc, Wisconsin Oconomowoc ( ) is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The name was derived from Coo-no-mo-wauk, the Potawatomi language, Potawatomi term for "waterfall." The population was 15,712 at the 2010 census. The city is partially adjacen ...

. 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 IGA, 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 Willis Stein & Partners is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout transactions for middle-market companies. The firm's most notable investments have included Ziff Davis, Roundy's, Jays Foods, Lincoln Snacks Company and Petersen Pub ...

. 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 An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

(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 Dominick's was a Chicago-area grocery store chain and subsidiary of Safeway Inc. Dominick's distribution center was located in Northlake, Illinois, while its management offices were located in Oak Brook, Illinois. History Founding Dominick DiM ...

prior to Dominick's sale to Safeway 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

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 A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...

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 Kohl’s Food Stores was a Milwaukee-area grocery store chain and subsidiary of The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company. Kohl’s Food Stores distribution center was located in Waukesha, while its management offices were located in Milwaukee, ...

under its A&P ownership and major changes to

Piggly Wiggly Piggly Wiggly is an American supermarket chain operating in the American Southern and Midwestern regions run by Piggly Wiggly, LLC, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers. Its first outlet opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee, and is notable fo ...

, now operates as a traditional supermarket chain. * Metro Market, a smaller-store concept, launched in 2004, prevalent in the

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

and Madison markets, mainly competing with Sendik's,

Trader Joe's Trader Joe's is an American chain of grocery stores headquartered in Monrovia, California. The chain has over 569 stores across the United States. The first Trader Joe's store was opened in 1967 by founder Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, Californi ...

and

Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market IP, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an upscale American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A US ...

. * 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

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

History

Banners and brands

References

Further reading

External links