NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) -- The owner of Farm Fresh said Wednesday it entered into agreements to sell 21 out of 38 Farm Fresh Food & Pharmacy locations in Hampton Roads and northeastern North Carolina.
SUPERVALU INC announced the deals with Harris Teeter, Kroger Mid-Atlantic Division, and Food Lion. The three retailers will pay SUPERVALU $43 million in cash.
SUPERVALU said it would continue to explore transactions to sell the remainder of its Farm Fresh supermarkets.
In addition to providing information about the deals, the company said Farm Fresh pharmacies that would remain in operation and where prescription files would be transferred.
The transactions should close in May.
Shopper Nancy Peck said Farm Fresh has something other supermarkets don't.
"A lot of the stores have some Kosher products, but not the amount that they have here. They really service the Jewish community here very nicely," said Peck.
A spokeswoman for Harris Teeter said the grocery store chain is going to remodel a number of locations. A little more than a mile away from the store on West 21st Street in Ghent another Harris Teeter already sits.
We asked the Harris Teeter spokeswoman about the closeness of the locations, and if the company planned on keeping both. She just referred us back to a news release, which didn't answer the question.
Farm Fresh was founded in 1957 and has served Virginia and North Carolina for 60 years. Currently, the grocery store chain has about 3,300 employees.
Mark Gross, President and CEO of SUPERVALU, said, “This decision was not taken lightly given the impact on our employees and the communities we serve, but we strongly believe this decision is in the best long-term financial and strategic interest of our business. Our leadership team and board of directors remain committed to taking proactive steps to transform our business and drive stockholder value.”
Stores bought by Harris Teeter:
Hampton
- 227 Fox Hill Rd.
Norfolk
- 730 West 21st St.
- 179 West Ocean View Ave.
Suffolk
- 3675 Bridge Rd.
Virginia Beach
- 2129 General Booth Blvd.
- 1069 Independence Blvd.
- 1400 Kempsville Rd.
- 521 Laskin Rd.
- 2110 West Great Neck Rd.
Williamsburg
- 4511 John Tyler Hwy.
Stores bought by Kroger Mid-Atlantic:
Chesapeake
- 1464 Mt. Pleasant Rd.
- 309 S Battlefield Blvd.
Hampton
- 2190 Coliseum Dr.
Hayes
- 7254 George Washington Memorial Hwy.
Norfolk
- 230 E Little Creek Rd.
Smithfield
- 1282 Smithfield Plaza
Suffolk
- 1401 N Main St.
Yorktown
- 6500 George Washington Memorial Hwy.
Stores Bought Food Lion:
Hampton
- 608 East Mercury Blvd.
Virginia Beach
- 1615 General Booth Blvd.
Elizabeth City, N.C.
- 683 Hughes Blvd.