Berkshire Partners to invest in grocery retailer

Boston Private-equity firm Berkshire Partners said Tuesday it has signed an agreement to make an equity investment in Grocery Outlet, an extreme-value grocery retailer with over 135 stores in the Western United States.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Berkeley, Calif., Grocery Outlet is a third-generation family-owned business that was founded in 1946. Grocery Outlet stores are managed by local, independent operators.

"We believe Grocery Outlet has a unique operating model that offers customers tremendous values on brand names they trust in a friendly, high-quality shopping environment. Over the past few years, Grocery Outlet has successfully invested in broadening its product offering, improving its marketing efforts and opening new stores," said Chris Hadley, managing director of Berkshire Partners.

Other Berkshire Partners investments include National Vision, an operator of value-oriented vision centers; Party City, a retailer of party goods; and Savers, a retailer of secondhand merchandise.