Building an Empire

Elliot Zwiebach

1982: Ron Burkle forms Yucaipa Capital Group; tries to acquire Stater Bros. Markets, where his father had been president, but is unsuccessful.

1986: Yucaipa acquires Jurgensen's Grocery Co., an old-line Southern California retailer.

1987: Yucaipa sells Jurgensen's and buys Falley's, Topeka, Kan.; also invests in Almacs Supermarkets, East Providence, R.I.

1988: Yucaipa buys Cala Foods, a small Northern California chain.

1989: Yucaipa buys Bell Markets in Northern California and Boys Markets in Los Angeles.

1990: Yucaipa buys ABC Markets in Los Angeles; opens first Food 4 Less in So. California.

1991: Yucaipa buys Alpha Beta, a major Southern California chain, and merges Alpha Beta, ABC, Boys, Bell, Cala and Falley's into a new holding company, Food 4 Less Supermarkets. Yucaipa sells Almacs.

1994: Yucaipa acquires Smitty's, Phoenix.

1995: Yucaipa acquires Dominick's Finer Foods, Northlake, Ill., in March and Ralphs Grocery Co., Compton, Calif., in June; merges Ralphs with Food 4 Less under Ralphs banner.

1996: Yucaipa sells Smitty's to Smith's Food & Drug Centers, Salt Lake; Burkle named CEO.

1997: Yucaipa sells Smith's to Fred Meyer Inc., Portland, Ore.

1998: Yucaipa sells Ralphs to Fred Meyer; Yucaipa sells Dominick's to Safeway.

1999: Yucaipa sells Fred Meyer to Kroger; Burkle named Kroger executive committee chair.

2000: Burkle resigns from Kroger; Yucaipa purchases 6.8% of Kmart stock.

2001: Yucaipa buys 7.4% (3.8 million shares) of Fleming stock, then sells most of it.

2003: Yucaipa unsuccessfully seeks to buy Dominick's back from Safeway.

2005: Yucaipa buys 40% stake in Pathmark, 10% stake in Wild Oats.

2006: Yucaipa raises Wild Oats' stake to 17.3%.

2007: Yucaipa sells Pathmark to A&P for $13 billion; Yucaipa sells shares in Wild Oats to Whole Foods; Yucaipa acquires 5.5% stake in Supervalu but ultimately sells most of it.

2009: Yucaipa acquires less than 5% of Whole Foods stock; Yucaipa invests $115 million in A&P, ending up with 27.6% equity stake.

SOURCE: SN research