ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Missouri-based Schnucks Markets has acquired all 51 stores in the Festival grocery chain in Wisconsin. The impact on Festival wasn’t clear immediately. The joint announcement of the deal said that both chains “share a strikingly similar set of core value.” Both operate upscale stores with delis and bakeries and extensive produce, cheese and butcher sections. With the acquisition Schnucks has a total of 164 locations in four Midwest states. Together Schnucks and Festival have 19,000 employees. Terms of the deal were not announced. Both companies are privately held. The majority of Festival shares are held by Mark Skogen, whose family has been in the grocery business in LaCrosse 79 years. The company does have an employee-owned component. The deal includes Festival’s nine Hometown Grocers, which operate as a separate brand name.
New mega-chain. A bold footprint in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin.
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Corporate shuffle
Mark Skogen, age 61, outgoing Festival chief executive, said Festival Foods and its Hometown Grocers unit will maintain their existing corporate headquarters in LaCrosse and Green Bay. They will operate as separate companies under the 1939 Group that owns Schnucks. In charge of the umbrella company will be Todd Schnuck as chair and chief executive.
Merger trend
The Schnucks-Festival deal is the latest in recent mergers between regional grocers to expand and improve their economies of scale. Last year Hy-Vee acquired Strack & Van Til that brought the Iowa-based chain into Indiana. In 2021 Raley’s of California bought Arizona-based Basha’s. Also in 2021 Price Clipper of western New York acquired Tops Markets of upstate New York.
Schnucks profile: Erratic, a bit hep
Schnuck Markets Inc., which goes bv the brand name “Shnucks,” was founded in St. Louis in 1939. Its parent company, 1939 Group, bears the name of he founding year. In 1943 its first large-scale store was opened at 2,700 square feet. By 1952 the company expanded in St. Louis suburbs. Schnucks acquired the Bettendorf-Rapp chain, forming the Schnucks-Bettendorf’s. A couple of years later the “Bettendorf” was dropped. In 1995 when Schnucks purchased and renamed 57 stores of St. Louis-based National. Schnuck growth was bolstered when A&P and Kroger abandoned the St. Louis market. In 2002 Schnucks bought 12 Seesel’s locations in Memphis from Idaho-based Albertsons but sold hem later to Kroger. In 2008 Schnucks bought Hart Food and Drug near St. Louis in O’Fallon, Illinois. In 2009, Schnucks opened a 21,000-square foot store in downtown St. Louis. — “Culinaria – A Schnucks Market” —and was advertised as a “new urban prototype.” In 2018 Schnuks bought 19 of SuperValu’s 19 Shop’N Save locations. In 2020, Schnucks opened another prototype store, named “EatWell – A Natural Food Store by Schnucks” in a college suburb near Sy. Louis. In 2020 and 2021, Schnucks exited the Quad Citues market in Iowa. In 2022 Schnucks purchased the only two locations of Missouri based grocer Fricks Market.
Festival: Grew steadily
Paul and Jane Skogen founded Skogens IGA in Onalaska, a LaCrosse suburb, in 1946. It was a $500 investment. Their son son, Dave, took over in 1976. He acquired the Red Owl in nearby Holmen in 1991. The new Onalaska store took on the name Festival. In 2006 Mark Skogen. a third generation, became chief executive In 2021 Festival entered the Milwaukee market with two stores. The company prided itself as Wisconsin’s hometown grocer” with eventually 50 stores and headquarters in Onalaska and DePere. The Festival record has ben largely a path steady expansion and a deep brand identity. In contrast Schnucks has grown with unpredictable if not always adroit tactics. There has been experimenting with new concepts and a bit too clever brand names like “Culinaria” and the scrunched contrivance “EatWell.”