SpartanNash acquires Great Lakes Foods and its Midwest distribution center

Distributor-retailer SpartanNash on Thursday announced its acquisition of independent grocery wholesaler Great Lakes Foods, along with its 300,000-square-foot distribution center in Menominee, Michigan.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Great Lakes Foods distribution center serves approximately 100 independent grocery customers across the Midwest and employs 125 workers. SpartanNash said it will continue to employ the existing team while investing in capital and IT upgrades to expand its services.

“This acquisition represents SpartanNash’s ongoing commitment to optimize our supply chain network, drive growth through geographic expansion and serve our customers more efficiently,” Masiar Tayebi, SpartanNash VP and chief strategy and information officer, said in a statement. “The location of this distribution center is ideal for serving both new and existing customers in the surrounding communities—as well as our own company-owned stores in the Upper Peninsula.”

The business integration will happen throughout 2023, SpartanNash said.

The acquisition will give Great Lakes Foods customers access to SpartanNash’s marketing support, private-label products, merchandising experience, and insights from the company’s wholesale and retail business, the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based company said.

"I am incredibly proud that SpartanNash purchased our distribution center,” Tom Kuber, owner of Great Lakes Foods, said in a statement. “We value our Associates and long-standing customers and know SpartanNash is well-equipped to elevate the level of service and amplify its People First culture based on their strong track record.”

Great Lakes Foods has been in business for more than 100 years. The wholesaler has had a variety of owners over the years, with Kuber taking over the company in 2012. Great Lakes is a full-line supplier of wholesale meat, produce, dairy, frozen, private label, bakery and deli products for supermarkets and convenience stores.

In October, SpartanNash sold four production and distribution facilities for nearly $30 million to investor Provender Partners. The 483,000 square feet of temperature-controlled facilities were redundant to SpartanNash’s existing assets.

SpartanNash operates a multi-channel business that includes food distribution, military distribution and supermarket retail. Late last year, the company presented a ramped-up plan for growth that projects it will top $10 billion in total sales by 2025. That’s 12% growth from a 3% compound annual growth rate in 2021.

The company also said it would consolidate its retail banners from about a dozen to four. Currently, SpartanNash operates 147 grocery stores in Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Banners include Family Fare, Martin’s Super Markets, D&W Fresh Market and others.