NEWSWATCH 1999-10-18

Associated Grocers, Seattle, said last week it had agreed to buy six supermarkets in Alaska from Safeway, Pleasanton, Calif. The stores -- three in Anchorage and one apiece in Eagle River, Wasilla and Fairbanks -- would operate under the Alaska Marketplace name. The stores would be owned and operated by Northwest Retail Ventures, a new company owned by Associated, Bristol Bay Native Corp. and several independent Associated members. Associated said it had been providing wholesale service to Alaska food retailers for several years. Moira Paddock, formerly vice president of operations at Carr Gottstein Foods, Anchorage, would be Northwest's general manager. To get state permission to acquire Carr Gottstein, Safeway agreed to divest seven stores by Oct. 13 or face fines of up to $7 million. The deal with Associated leaves Safeway with one store still to divest.

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Ahold, Zaandam, Netherlands, said it will extend its offer for the preferred stock of Supermarkets General Holdings Corp., the parent company of Pathmark Stores, Carteret, N.J., until Nov. 15. The offer had been previously scheduled to expire Oct. 8. Ahold is still waiting for approval from the Federal Trade Commission to complete its acquisition of Pathmark, originally announced last year.

Spartan Stores, Grand Rapids, Mich., said last week it intended to purchase Great Day Food Centers, a three-store chain with units in Grand Rapids, Cedar Springs and Sparta, all in Michigan. Spartan has been Great Day's supplier since its first store opened in 1973, and Ronald Young, Great Day's owner, has been on the Spartan board since 1974. He has resigned from the board and will retire from Great Day when the sale is complete, in an estimated 60 to 90 days.

Associated Food Stores, Salt Lake City, said it has completed its acquisition of Macey's, Sandy, Utah, an eight-store supermarket chain. Primarily a wholesaler, Associated has ventured into retailing this year with the purchase of Macey's and Lin's, St. George, Utah, a chain currently with five stores in Utah and Nevada. An Associated spokesman said the Macey's deal was a friendly takeover. The spokesman added Macey will continue to serve as chairman of Macey's, and no name or format-change is planned for the stores.

Harry's Farmers Markets, Roswell, Ga., said it has entered an agreement to sell its distribution facility for $5.3 million to a company that purchases and manages distribution facilities across the country. Harry's also said it has been unable to secure the $4 million it needs to pay Progressive Food Concepts, a subsidiary of Boston Chicken, within the timeframe set out by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Phoenix. Harry's said it will continue to pursue a settlement with Boston Chicken and any successor entity. In addition, Harry said its stock, which formerly was traded on the Nasdaq National Market system, has begun trading on the Nasdaq Smallcap system.

The European Parliament, Strasbourg, France, heard European Commission President Romano Prodi say that the European Union needs to put in place an efficient, reliable and credible food-safety program. He said the EC plans to issue a White Paper on food safety before the end of 2000 with the goal of having a new body of legislation in place by 2002.