C&S Wholesale Grocers
C&S Wholesale Grocers is a wholesale distributor of food and grocery store items. With its headquarters in Keene, New Hampshire, C&S is the twelfth-largest privately held company in the United States, as listed in 2008 by Forbes.[1] As of November 2009[update], they are the eighth-largest such company.[2] Subsidiaries include Birmingham, Alabama based Bruno's, Food World, Piggly Wiggly and Southern Family Markets; and New York-based Grand Union.
C&S provides more than 95,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs) food and nonfood items to 4,600 corporate customers, including produce, meat, dairy products, delicatessen products, fresh/frozen bakery items, health and beauty aids, candy, and tobacco. C&S has 15,000 associates in 11 states, and storage space of more than 15 million square feet.[3]
C&S customers include Bruno's, Food World, Piggly Wiggly, Southern Family Markets, Pathmark, Safeway Inc., Food Giant Stores, Shaw's Supermarkets, Stop & Shop, A&P Supermarkets, Target Corporation, Tops Markets LLC, BiLo Foods, P&C Foods, Quality Markets, Great American, SavMart/Foodmax, DeMoulas, and independent store/supermarket owner/operators. [4]
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[edit] History
C&S was founded by Israel Cohen and Abraham Siegel in 1918 in Worcester, Massachusetts.[5] Rick Cohen, the third generation of the Cohen family to run the company, is the CEO.[6]
C&S grew dramatically in 1958 after it began serving supermarket chain Big D in Worcester.[7]
In 1981, C&S moved into a 300,000-square-foot (28,000 m2) warehouse in Brattleboro, Vermont. With the move, it began serving several large supermarket chains, including A&P.[8]
In 2001, C&S moved into retailing as it acquired the Grand Union company (now Grand Union Family Markets.) It was Grand Union's largest unsecured creditor when Grand Union declared bankruptcy, making a stalking horse offer.[9]
[edit] Litigation
- January 2009: Lawsuits were filed in federal courts in Wisconsin and New Hampshire alleging that C&S and SuperValu engaged in collusion to allocate markets and reduce competition. The charges stemmed from a 2003 asset swap in which SuperValu swapped distribution centers in the Northeast with C&S's centers in the Midwest with suits claiming that each had indicated it would not compete in the other's territory. The agreement raised red flags when C&S closed its newly-acquired distribution centers shortly after the deal.[10][11][12]
- December 2010: A&P filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing in court papers that, among other causes, A&P made an "unfavorable" arrangement with C&S where A&P was required to get 70 percent of its inventory from C&S.[13]
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ "America's Largest Private Companies: #12 C&S Wholesale Grocers". Forbes.com. http://www.forbes.com/business/lists/2008/21/privates08_CS-Wholesale-Grocers_HFCA.html. Retrieved 2010-12-13.[dead link]
- ^ Fleischauer, Eric (November 3, 2009). "2 Decatur Piggly Wigglys to become Food World stores". Decatur Daily. http://www.decaturdaily.com/detail/46819.html.
- ^ http://www.cswg.com/company/about.htm
- ^ http://www.cswg.com/company/about.htm
- ^ "Founding of C&S Wholesale Grocers". Cswg.com. http://www.cswg.com/company/history/founding-cs-wholesale-grocers.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
- ^ http://www.cswg.com/executives/cohen.htm
- ^ "Big D Days". Cswg.com. http://www.cswg.com/company/history/big-d-days.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
- ^ "A Difficult Decision". Cswg.com. http://www.cswg.com/company/history/difficult-descission.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
- ^ http://www.paulweiss.com/files/Publication/d1436bab-f7cd-4ecf-a1d7-26764ac96052/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/896831da-763f-4a4e-a70d-7599105b5056/837336.pdf
- ^ Stevens, Caleb (January 22, 2009). "Supervalu faces collusion lawsuit". http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2009/01/19/daily38.html.
- ^ "Grocery Wholesalers Face Anticompetitive Lawsuit | Modern Distribution Management". Mdm.com. http://www.mdm.com/Grocery-Wholesalers-Face-Anticompetitive-Lawsuit/PARAMS/article/6570. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
- ^ Sanders, Bob (2009-07-03). "Grocery score: suit alleges C&S in antitrust conspiracy.". Entrepreneur.com. http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/203953155.html. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
- ^ Kary, Tiffany. "A&P, Century-Old U.S. Grocery Store Owner, Files for Bankruptcy". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-12/a-p-grocery-store-owner-files-for-bankruptcy-as-competition-heightens.html. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
