Houchens to Buy Whites Chain

JON SPRINGER

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Houchens Industries has agreed to purchase Whites Fresh Foods, a retailer operating 14 conventional grocery stores in Tennessee and Virginia, the companies said.

Terms were not disclosed. The sale is set to close “in the near future,” the companies said in a press release.

Whites, a family-run retailer based in Johnson City, Tenn., said the move would provide needed new investment. “With continuing pressures in the marketplace, and the ongoing needs for expansion and investment in the futures of [our] employees, Houchens Industries provides a unique opportunity for our company,” Doug White, chairman of Whites, said in a statement.

Houchens is a diversified, employee-owned holding company with 170 conventional supermarkets under multiple brand names; 215 Save-A-Lot stores; and 85 convenience stores. SN estimated that Houchens had sales of about $2.5 billion in 2008.

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