TOP WHOLESALERS

RANK: COMPANY; STORES OWNED; SALES IN $ BILLIONS; TOP 75 RANKING

from 661 corporate stores, encompassing 237 supermarkets and 424 Save-A-Lots, account for 54% of annual revenues. The company also franchises 861 Save-A-Lots and 31 Cub Foods stores.

2) C&S Wholesale Grocers Keene, N.H.: 0; 15.2 e; 11

C&S supplies products to nine Top 75 retailers (A&P, Ahold USA, BJ's, Big Y, Demoulas Market Basket, Pathmark, Safeway, Save Mart and Shaw's), and volume from those companies is reflected in the sales totals for C&S and for each of the retailers individually. C&S volume does not include retail sales from two C&S affiliates: GU Markets, which operates 30 former Grand Union locations, and Southern Family Markets, which encompasses 83 stores formerly operated by the Bruno's/Bi-Lo division of Ahold USA.

3) Wakefern Food Corp. Elizabeth, N.J.: 49; 9.10 a; 16

Wakefern supplies products to three Top 75 companies - Foodarama, Village Super Markets and Inserra Supermarkets - and volume from those companies is reflected in the sales totals for Wakefern. Wakefern declined to indicate what percentage of total sales come from its corporate stores (27 ShopRites and 22 PriceRites).

4) Associated Wholesale Grocers Kansas City, Kan.: 75; 5.00 e; 24

Corporate stores at Associated Wholesale Grocers account for 10.5% of total sales.

5) Nash Finch Co. Minneapolis: 80; 4.70 e; 27

Ron Marshall has announced plans to step down as CEO in March 2006. Corporate stores at Nash Finch account for 16% of total sales.

6) Roundy's Supermarkets Milwaukee: 135; 3.60 e; 33

Corporate stores at Roundy's Supermarkets account for 90% of total sales.

7) Unified Western Grocers Los Angeles: 0; 2.90 a; 36

8) Alex Lee Inc. Hickory, N.C.: 107; 2.50 a; 42

Sales at Alex Lee Inc. include $1.2 billion from Lowes Food Stores, Winston-Salem, N.C.; $1.6 billion from Merchants Distributors Inc., Hickory, N.C., a wholesaler (approximately 46% of whose sales go to Lowes); and $476 million from Institution Food House, Hickory, N.C., a food-service distributor.

9) United Natural Foods Dayville, Conn.: 12; 2.30 e; 44

Corporate stores account for 2% of United Natural's total sales.

10) Spartan Stores Grand Rapids, Mich.: 73; 2.10 e; 48

Corporate stores, encompassing 54 supermarkets and 19 deep-discount drug stores, account for 43% of total sales. The pending acquisition of 20 D&W Food Centers could add another $200 million to Spartan's total sales.

11) Grocers Supply Co. Houston: 52; 1.90 e; 53

Grocers Supply Co. declined to pinpoint what percentage of total sales its corporate stores account for.

12) Associated Food Stores Salt Lake City: 23; 1.50 e; 55

Corporate stores at Associated Food Stores account for 32% of total sales.

13) Penn Traffic Co. Syracuse, N.Y.: 108; 1.40 e; 56

Penn Traffic also serves as a wholesaler to 78 licensed franchisees and 40 independent operators.

14) Purity Wholesale Grocers Boca Raton, Fla.: 0; 1.20 e; 61

15) White Rose Foods Cartaret, N.J.: 0; 1.20 e; 63

White Rose is a division of DiGiorgio Corp.

16) Associated Wholesalers Inc. Robesonia, Pa.: 8; 1.20 e; 64

Corporate stores at AWI account for 7% of total sales.

17) Affiliated Foods Amarillo, Texas: 0; 1.13 a; 65

18) Bozzuto's Cheshire, Conn.: 8; 1.10 a; 67

Corporate stores at Bozzuto's account for 1.5% of total sales.

19) Central Grocers Inc. Franklin Park, Ill.: 28; 1.10 a; 68

Corporate stores account for approximately 47% of total sales.

20) Associated Grocers Seattle: 2; 1.05 a; 69

21) Affiliated Foods Midwest Norfolk, Neb.: 0; 1.05 e; 70

Top Canadian Food Companies

RANK: COMPANY; STORES OWNED; SALES IN $ BILLIONS; TOP 75 RANKING

1) Loblaw Cos. Toronto: 1,058; 24.0 e ($U.S.); 6

Loblaw operates 658 corporate stores and supplies 400 franchised stores.

2) Sobeys Stellarton, Nova Scotia: 1,314; 11.1 e ($U.S.); 15

Sobeys operates 513 corporate stores (encompassing 307 supermarkets, 146 convenience stores and 60 drug stores) and supplies 801 franchised stores.

3) Metro Montreal: 746; 5.90 a ($U.S.); 20

Metro operates 356 corporate stores - including 234 A&P stores acquired in August 2005 - that account for 70% of total sales, and supplies 390 franchised stores, including 173 drug stores, in addition to independent customers.

4) Overwaitea Food Group Langley, British Columbia: 106; 2.70 e ($U.S.); 39