NASH FINCH IN TALKS TO BUY 14-STORE NEBRASKA CHAIN

MINNEAPOLIS -- Nash Finch Co. here said last week it is negotiating with U Save Foods, Omaha, Neb., to purchase the retailer's capital stock, including 14 supermarket locations.

's wholesaler for 61 years but lost the account to Supervalu three years ago. If a transaction is completed, U Save would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Nash Finch, the U Save spokesman indicated.

U Save operates 14 stores -- including 12 in Nebraska and single units in Colorado and Kansas -- with annual volume estimated at more than $100 million. The company also operates a single Save-A-Lot store in Council Bluffs, Iowa -- a limited assortment banner licensed by Supervalu -- that would not be part of the Nash Finch deal, the spokesman said.

Nash Finch operates 97 corporate stores in the upper Midwest, including 19 in Nebraska -- 18 Sun Mart Foods and a single Wholesale Food Outlet in Nebraska; one Wholesale Food Mart in Colorado; and no stores in Kansas. Wholesale Food Outlet is a Hispanic-oriented format.

U Save is a privately held company owned by two cousins: John F. Hanson, president, and Jay P. Hanson, vice president. They are third-generation owners of the company, which was founded in Nebraska in 1937.

The company operates stores under a variety of banners and formats: six U Save Foods, an upscale superwarehouse format (five in Nebraska, one in Kansas); five Sixth Street Food Stores, a conventional format (four in Nebraska, one in Colorado); two Cub Foods, an upscale superwarehouse format franchised by Supervalu; and one unit of Pic 'n Save, a neighborhood price format.

Stores range from 18,000 square feet to 80,000 square feet, with an average of about 40,000 square feet, the U Save spokesman said.