WHOLESALE MARKET GRAB PLANNED BY NASH FINCH

DAVID GHITELMAN

MINNEAPOLIS -- Nash Finch Co. here said last week it is seeking to build its wholesale business by aggressively grabbing market share from competitors.

"No one -- not Supervalu, not Fleming, not Spartan -- is better than Nash Finch as a wholesaler," Ron Marshall, Nash Finch president and chief executive officer, told a conference call for investment analysts last week.

The company also last week released its results for the 12-week second quarter ended June 17, in which earnings rose 91.3% to $4.4 million although revenues declined 2% to $917.7 million. In the first half of the year earnings rose 88.6% to $6.6 million while revenues declined 3.2% to $1.81 billion, the company said.

Nash Finch attributed the revenues decline to the continuing effect of having closed five distribution centers last year.

Marshall told the conference call that there is still a lot of wholesale business to be captured in the Midwest. "The five top wholesalers account for 41% of sales" in the region, he said. "We are working to capture the remaining 59%. We are competing head to head with Fleming and Supervalu for this business."

Marshall also cited the previously reported $120 million in new distribution accounts Nash Finch had taken over from "large, national competitors."

The company said that since Marshall's arrival at Nash Finch in mid-1998 through the second quarter of 2000, it has made a number of performance improvements in its distribution sector, including:

A 25% reduction in cost per case.

An on-time delivery rate of 96%, up from 67%.

A 48% increase in trailer-capacity utilization.

A 13% inventory reduction.

A 22% reduction in stockkeeping units carried.

In the second quarter, income from the food-distribution segment rose 11% to $13.9 million, although revenues declined 15.9% to $451.9 million.

results are beginning to show."

In the company's retail segment, both income and revenues increased in the second quarter. Sales rose 40% to $245.3 million, and earnings jumped 78% to $6.4 million. Same-store sales increased 0.7% in the period.

Retail developments in the quarter included:

The expansion of Nash Finch's two new pilot store concepts, Buy N Save, a limited-assortment discount store, and Wholesale Food Outlet, a price-impact concept primarily serving the Hispanic market.

The opening of two Econofoods replacement stores and the remodeling of three others.

The conversion of most of the Hinky Dinky stores acquired in the first quarter to the Sun Mart banner.

The addition of the Sun Mart banner to all of Nash Finch's IGA stores in the Southeast.

The announcement of a partnership with Priceline Webhouse Club.