Tops sells 18 stores to Giant Eagle



2:40 p.m. (updated 3:58 p.m.)

Tops Markets LLC has agreed to sell 18 of its 46 supermarkets in Northeast Ohio to rival Giant Eagle Inc. of Pittsburgh. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Tops said it expects the transaction to close in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Giant Eagle issued a news release that said 13 of the stores would be corporately-owned Giant Eagles, one would be an independently-owned Giant Eagle, and four would be Dave's Supermarkets with Giant Eagle pharmacies.

Tops, based in Williamsville, N.Y., announced on July 6 that it would be seeking buyers for all its Ohio stores by the end of the year, in order to concentrate on markets in Western New York and Pennsylvania.

Today, spokesman Denny Hopkins said announcements regarding the remaining 28 stores will be made as agreements are finalized.

The asset purchase agreement with Giant Eagle involves 18 stores, including 13 in Cuyahoga County, and 1,800 full- and part-time employees. The purchase includes the store locations and assets, excluding merchandise. Giant Eagle has also agreed to honor existing labor contracts with unions, Hopkins said.

In a news release, Tops said:

Tops and Giant Eagle have been working together with the leadership of the Local 880 United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union and Local 19 of the Bakers, Confectioners, Tobacconists, and Grain Millers (BCTGM) union to preserve as many of the full and part time jobs in the region as possible.

By Janet H. Cho, jcho@plaind.com

Tops stores sold to Giant Eagle

Giant Eagle said that the stores would sell out existing inventory and close by early December, to be eventually reopened. The pharmacies at these stores would remain open, and prescription records will transfer from Tops to Giant Eagle.

Re-opening mid-December:
14100 Detroit, Lakewood (replaces existing Giant Eagle)

Re-opening January 2007:
24601 Chagrin, Beachwood
10950 Lorain, Cleveland
3628 Mayfield, Cleveland Heights
230 Howe, Cuyahoga Falls
821 Cleveland, Elyria
3750 Market, Fairlawn
21593 Lorain, Fairview Park
6259 Mayfield, Mayfield Heights
870 N. Court, Medina
80 Whittlesey, Norwalk

Re-opening late summer 2007 (and replacing existing Giant Eagles):
22777 Rockside, Bedford (independently owned)
7819 Day, Parma
1825 Snow, Parma

Re-opening as Dave's Supermarkets:
16820 Harvard, Cleveland
11501 Buckeye, Cleveland
22501 Shore Center, Euclid
4948 Turney, Garfield Heights

More about Tops

The Plain Dealer, July 7:

Tops Markets’ stores in Northeast Ohio are being lopped off from their parent company, Dutch grocer Royal Ahold N.V., which wants to sell them by the end of the year.

The decision affects 46 stores in Greater Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown and Norwalk, and about 3,800 full- and part-time employees, who learned the news late Thursday.

“This geographically separate region is no longer considered a core part of Tops’ market area,” Ahold said in a statement released late Thursday.

“We want to focus our priorities on strengthening Tops’ position in our core markets in New York and Pennsylvania,” said Denny Hopkins, vice president of advertising and public relations for Tops and parent company Giant Food Stores LLC in Carlisle, Pa.

... While Tops is the No. 1 grocer in its home turf of Greater Buffalo/Niagara, its Northeast Ohio stores have been bleeding sales and losing market share to market leader Giant Eagle Inc.

While Tops had 28 percent of the Greater Cleveland grocery market in 2000, Tops’ market share had dropped to less than 25 percent by June 2005, according to Trade Dimensions International Inc., a firm that tracks market share. And that was before arch-rival Giant Eagle started heavily promoting its lowered prices, in-store butchers and Fuelperks gasoline-discount program.

Retail analyst Robert Antall, chief executive of LakeWest Group LLC in Cleveland, said Ahold had been struggling to find a spot for the Tops stores in a marketplace being invaded by discounters like Wal-Mart and Marc’s Deeper Discount Stores.

The Plain Dealer, July 8:

A day after Tops grocery stores in Northeast Ohio went up for sale, speculation swirled about what will happen next.

Industry analysts picked front-runners from a long list of possible suitors, while more than 3,700 Tops employees suddenly had to be concerned about their future.

... A grocer would most likely purchase the stores, but a financial buyer — like a venture capital group or a private equity firm — could also step in, said Burt Flickinger III, director of Strategic Resource group, a New York-based consulting firm.

Analysts name Kroger as one of the most likely buyers, but the Cincinnati-based company is keeping quiet.

... Burt Saltzman, chairman of Dave’s Supermarkets, said he might buy a few stores if Ahold sells them individually.

... A spokesman for Giant Eagle said Thursday that the company had nothing to announce regarding Tops.

The Plain Dealer, Sept. 7:

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s rally to support Tops Markets stores and employees in Northeast Ohio drew about 50 people to the parking lot outside the Lakewood Tops on Detroit Avenue Wednesday morning.

Kucinich, who on Tuesday sent a letter to Tops’ Executive Vice President and General Manager Max Henderson urging him not to sell to anybody who would close stores and cut some of the 4,000 local jobs, said he has formed a coalition of public officials to protect workers and save neighborhood supermarkets.

“We’d like to see a company purchase these stores, keep them open and keep the employees,” said state Sen. Marc Dann. If Giant Eagle were to buy them and eliminate choices for consumers, “we’re not going to stand by idly and allow it to happen.”

... Several employees and shoppers said they appreciated the gesture of support, but they wondered why officials had not said anything when Tops started closing its stores last January.

“I never saw so many suits in a Tops parking lot in my life,” said Elizabeth Koululias of Lakewood. She noted that the politicians didn’t get involved until “two months before the election.”

Wow- Giant is picking up stores all over!

Not Giant, Giant Eagle