AVENEL, N.J. — The president of Foodtown Supermarkets here said the cooperative was considering whether to match the offer Stop & Shop made for Norkus Enterprises' five stores.
Bill Donohoe told SN Thursday that Foodtown has a right of first refusal as part of its contract with Norkus, giving the company the right to match the offer on stores sold by its members. He said Foodtown was informed last week of a tentative agreement between Stop & Shop and Norkus, which would sell five Norkus-owned Foodtown stores to Stop & Shop for an undisclosed price. He said Foodtown was currently examining the details of that deal and had not yet made a decision.
"We have the right to meet that [sale] contract and not let the stores leave Foodtown, or we could look at the financial aspects of it and decide it’s not worth the money they are throwing at it," Donohoe said. "Right now it's we are diligently looking at every avenue. We’ll make our decision based on the financial structure of the deal."