PRESCOTT'S PICK 'N SAVE ACQUIRES EVERIX BAKERY

ROSEANNE HARPER

WEST BEND, Wis. -- Prescott's Pick 'n Save Supermarkets here has acquired a locally renowned, upscale bakery and will offer the bakery's full mix of products in its Fond du Lac, Wis., stores almost immediately, officials said.

The six-unit, family-owned Prescott's, supplied by Pick 'n Save, Wisconsin's largest wholesaler, has three stores in Fond du Lac and others in Oshkosh, Wis., and here.

The deal was made with Everix Bakery, a name well known to residents around Fond du Lac, said George Prescott, Prescott's president and chief operating officer. Everix is a name so highly regarded that the sale made the front page of Fond du Lac's daily newspaper, Prescott pointed out.

"Everix is where people go for their wedding cakes, birthday cakes, anytime there's a special occasion. The name 'Everix' here is to bakeries what 'Starbucks' is to coffee shops," Prescott said in an interview with SN. "And the timing couldn't be better for Prescott's as the branding concept sweeps retail," he added.

Prescott said his company will make a big deal of the Everix name.

"We'll definitely have point-of-purchase materials blasting the information out. This is great for us to have this [the Everix product and the association with the Everix name]," Prescott said. Radio ads at a later date are on the agenda, too.

Asked if the bakery had been a supplier to any of Prescott's stores previously, Prescott said it had not, but only because the bakery had been in an exclusive agreement with another supermarket company.

Everix Bakery, now a fully owned subsidiary of Prescott's, will continue to operate a retail store at its production facility and one it has been operating in a local shopping mall.

"And we're certain sales of Everix products at our supermarkets will be all incremental," Prescott said.

Prescott said he expects to have a dramatic presentation of Everix products displayed in the in-store bakeries of Prescott's units in Fond du Lac within weeks. Then, later, the bakery may supply the other three units of Prescott's.

"We want to move slowly. This is all new. We want to make sure that as Everix makes bigger batches there is no degradation of product," Prescott said. Full lines of Everix' total mix of products, including doughnuts, cookies and breads, will be sold at Prescott's units.

"This particularly will give us a higher level of breads for our customers -- some of the specialty breads, European-style breads. This just helps us get to where we wanted to get quicker," Prescott said.

Everix' products, delivered to Prescott's stores every day, will displace items that had previously been produced in-store, Prescott said. "There will be a gradual melding of our staffs. We see this as a good thing for everybody involved," Prescott's top executive said.

The two companies will maintain their separate stores and separate corporate identities, Prescott pointed out. Everix, also a family-owned business, has been in operation since 1934. The company's president, Ellen Everix, will not retain a financial share of the company, but she has a multiyear contract with Prescott's to manage production and growth of the bakery company. Prescott declined to reveal the terms of the acquisition or what the selling price was. He also declined to reveal Everix Bakery's current sales volume.