Ukrop’s may be for sale, publication says
FILE PHOTO/TIMES-DISPATCH
Ukrop’s employed 3,363 people in 25 stores in the Richmond area as of Jan. 1.
Ukrop's Super Markets Inc. has initiated discussions with potential buyers for the 28-store chain, a regional grocery trade publication reported yesterday.
Food World reported on its Web site that family-owned Ukrop's, a Richmond-area institution for decades, had issued a prospectus "detailing vital Ukrop's store data and seeking interest in a potential sale." Food World cited multiple industry sources.
Jeff Metzger, publisher of Maryland-based Food World, declined to comment on the report yesterday.
Potential buyers responding to the prospectus included Harris Teeter, Supervalu and Netherlands-based Ahold, Food World reported.
Ukrop's did not respond to several requests for comment.
A spokeswoman for Harris Teeter would say only that it is the company's corporate policy "not to comment on rumors." A spokeswoman for Supervalu said the company does not publicly discuss market speculation.
Ahold did not respond to requests for comment.
Ukrop's employed 3,363 people in 25 stores in the Richmond area as of Jan. 1.
The Food World report came amid widespread discussion on Richmond-area blogs and online chats of the possibility of Ukrop's being sold, including reports that Harris Teeter had applied for state licenses to sell alcohol in the same number of locations that Ukrop's has stores. Few of the posts cited sources.
A spokeswoman for Harris Teeter said the North Carolina-based grocery chain had not applied for such licenses, and a spokeswoman for the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control said no such applications had been filed.
As of yesterday evening, the ABC Department Web site did not show any pending applications in the area for Harris Teeter or its parent company, Ruddick Corp.
There also were no pending alcohol-sales license applications in the name of Ukrop's, Ahold or Supervalu.
Talk of a possible Ukrop's sale to Harris Teeter has circulated for several years. In an e-mail statement in May, the company chalked up the talk to rumors.
"It seems like every year about this time the same rumors circulate," Ukrop's said in the statement.
Harris Teeter Inc. operates 181 stores in eight states including Virginia but not in the Richmond market. However, the chain has stores in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, Charlottesville and Danville.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced in January that Harris Teeter will invest $101 million to open a food-distribution operation in King George County, creating 335 jobs.
The company employs about 21,000 people. It has headquarters in Matthews, N.C., near Charlotte.
Minnesota-based Supervalu owns and operates about 2,500 stores under several different brands and also supplies grocers, including Ukrop's. Supervalu owns Virginia Beach-based Farm Fresh Inc., which operates the Market at Tobacco Row in Richmond.
Ahold is an international group of grocery stores, with locations in the U.S. and Europe. It owns Landover, Md.-based Giant, which has about 20 stores in Northern Virginia and several in Washington.
Ukrop's was founded in 1937, when Joseph Ukrop mortgaged the family farm to open the first store in Richmond.
It expanded to dominate the Richmond grocery market and now has 28 stores -- 25 in the Richmond area and one each in Williamsburg, Fredericksburg and Roanoke.
Over its 72-year history, the company has been a major supporter of area charities and community events, including sponsoring the Monument Avenue 10K race. In September, Ukrop's reported that its Golden Gift program had distributed more than $12 million to local nonprofit organizations since 1987.
It has remained family-owned, with one of the founder's sons, Robert S. Ukrop, 62, currently serving as chairman, president and CEO of the company.
Brother James E. Ukrop, who turns 72 this month, is chairman of First Market Bank, the majority of which is owned by the grocery chain and the family. He is a former chairman of Ukrop's Super Markets.
First Market is in the process of merging with Bowling Green-based Union Bank and Trust.
Ukrop's has acknowledged some problems in recent years. The company has discussed publicly its problems gaining a foothold in the Roanoke market with the store it opened there two years ago. Slow sales forced it to close one of its two Williamsburg stores this year.
And last month, an annual survey of grocery markets showed Ukrop's no longer is the market leader in the Richmond area for the first time in more than 20 years. It lost its No. 1 spot to North Carolina-based Food Lion LLC, according to Food World.
Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or
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Reader Reactions
In response to Doug E’s comment on 7/15, “The White Oak Village Ukrops has never smelled like urine or fish, nor does any other Ukrops.“ On July 3 at 9:30 pm, The White Oak Village Ukrops smelled so bad that my granddaughter asked to go sit in the car, my daughter and her friend went to the meat counter and there were reduced meats that had turned COMPLETELY BLACK, wish I could upload the photos taken from the camera phone and the place smelled HORRIBLE, just like I said. I just wish I could have recorded the smell for ya, but hey, too many witnesses to the contrary that it STUNK like a SKUNK. Still prefer Bell Creek’s customer service to WOV! But it all comes down to the store managers!!!!
Dont know about yall, but I dont like this Harris Teeter already. I say we boycott the Teeters when they get here. Send em packin back to North Carolina.——-
I’m with you badger, and so are many others, we will leave the drunkards who are to lazy to get their beer/wine somewhere else behind.
Teeter 10 K-That’s funny. However, if Ukrop’s does sell things will be very different, and I doubt there will be any 10 K. It would be a real shame if they sell.
Question: Do you think it would be the Harris Teeter Monument 10K or the Teeter 10K?
I heard this morning that the U issued a statement to employees that they aren’t selling. Yet there is a liquor license in the hold for 25 stores??? hmmm….
So what do all of you think of the new overpriced Fresh Foods, Whole Foods, etc. entry into this market? No one has ridiculed them yet? Or maybe their market share is so small most don’t even know they are here?
No one has ridiculed the new overpriced markets, Fresh Foods, Whole Foods, etc. with their enty into the food market? Guess their market share is so small most don’t know they are here? Or maybe they are considered a separate category?
While the for- and against-Ukrop’s issue is interesting (if predictable), does anyone have any thoughts on the poor Times-Dispatch’s untenable position in the middle?
A VERY big local scoop to be had in a time of waning readership and fading subscriptions, yet they lurked in the background until the blogosphere and trade papers dribbled the story out.
Is this the kind of “responsible journalism” we demand? Or is this just more “market journalism” in which a flack paper puts out the pablum of its advertising sponsors?
It will be nice to have a convenient grocery store that is open on Sundays and sells beer & wine. (How quaint.)
The only reason I shop there now is to enjoy the scenery.
paperlady I remember Dot’s.Went to the one in downtown Thalhimers when I was a little kid.Awesome cupcakes.
I’ll miss Ukrop’s if they go.Good bakery,prepared foods,the fried chicken.Can’t be beat.
Oh,well close another one of the better chapters of Richmond’s history.See what’s next.Hopefully Harris Teeters.
Have fun doing that by yourself badger… We’ll be at the “Teeter”. Might as well accept the fact that NC just owns VA.
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