Independents

Boise, Idaho -- Albertsons LLC plans to close four underperforming stores: one in Arizona, one in Louisiana and two in Texas.

The closings will leave Albertsons with 205 stores in the Southwest and the South.

New York City -- Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, the U.S. division of Tesco, plans to close 12 underperforming stores, according to the Orange County Register. The company, however, left open the door to re-opening the stores at a later date.

Greensboro, N.C. -- The Fresh Market said Thursday it has promoted Sean Crane to executive VP and COO, reporting directly to Craig Carlock, president and CEO.

Crane was previously senior VP store operations. In his new role, he will lead store operations, merchandising and marketing functions.
 

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway on Thursday announced the sale of 16 of its Genuardi's stores in the greater Philadelphia area to Giant Food Stores, a division of Ahold USA. Safeway will continue to operate these stores until the transaction closes, and the company is working through an orderly transition for all of these stores.

In addition, Safeway plans to close three Genuardi's stores and sell the remaining eight Genuardi's stores, which it will continue to operate while it is working with potential buyers.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Safeway Inc. is exiting the Philadelphia market. The company announced it has reached a definitive agreement to sell 16 of its Genuardi's stores in the greater Philadelphia area to Giant Food Stores, LLC, a division of Ahold USA.

The deal is valued at $106 million.

In addition, Safeway plans to close three Genuardi's stores and sell the remaining eight Genuardi's stores, which it will continue to operate while it is working with potential buyers.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — A regional supermarket chain and its charitable arm once again has donated funds to the United States Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots program.

Stater Bros., along with Stater Bros. Charities, earlier this month presented a $26,000 check to the program, which will be used to purchase toys that will be distributed to community-based organizations in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.

GREENVILLE, S.C. — BI-LO and Winn-Dixie Stores on Monday announced that the companies will merge to create an organization of approximately 690 grocery stores and 63,000 employees in eight states throughout the Southeastern United States.

Under the terms of the definitive agreement, BI-LO will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Winn-Dixie stock in the merger. Winn-Dixie shareholders will receive $9.50 in cash per share of Winn-Dixie common stock, representing a premium of approximately 75% over the closing price of Winn-Dixie common stock on Dec. 16.

Greenville, S.C. -- Grocer Bi-Lo LLC said Monday that it has acquired southern supermarket chain Winn-Dixie, in a $560 million transaction that will take Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. private and create the largest grocery operator in the South.

The merger will combine Winn-Dixie’s 480 supermarkets in five southern states (Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Mississippi) with Bi-Lo’s 207 stores in the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee to create a company with 690 stores and 63,000 workers in eight states.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Fourth quarter and fiscal year 2011 both proved positive for Stater Bros., the regional supermarket chain announced Tuesday.

For the fourth quarter ended Sept. 25, the retailer saw a 5% increase in sales to $941.9 million, compared with the year-ago period. For the 52-week fiscal year, sales rose 2.4% to $3.7 billion, the company said. Same-store sales for the fourth quarter and fiscal year experienced a 5% and 2.5% jump in same-store sales, respectively.

New York City -- Roundy's Supermarkets Inc., which operates 158 supermarkets under several banners in three states, expects to raise $230 million through an initial public stock offering.

The Milwaukee-based Roundy's is currently owned by Chicago private equity firm Willis Stein & Partners. The number of shares to be offered and the price have not yet been determined.