PATHMARK SAID TO MULL DISTRIBUTION

WOODBRIDGE, N.J. -- Industry observers told SN that Pathmark here is examining its distribution and trucking operations with an eye toward either outsourcing the business, turning the distribution center over to an independent third party or some combination of the two -- assuming it does anything at all.

yer. An official for the company would not comment on the report, and refused to say whether the wholesaler was looking for acquisitions.

C&S supplies three high-volume companies: Grand Union Co., Wayne, N.J.; Edwards Super Food Stores, Windsor Locks, Conn.; and supercenters operated by Wal-Mart Stores, Bentonville, Ark.

Rick Cohen, president and chief executive officer, told SN in a 1996 interview that servicing chains is "a big untapped market" and that "every retailer that has his own warehouse is a potential customer.

Pathmark's primary grocery warehouse is a 475,000-square-foot facility here.

An observer said the examination of its distribution operation is part of the company's "examination and re-examination of all parts of the business" that's been going on since Jim Donald came in as president and CEO several months ago.

Observers also told SN that Pathmark also expects to disclose, by the end of June, a new bank agreement that would refinance its existing debt in a more favorable way, providing more money and pushing back the debt maturity, which would result in greater flexibility for Pathmark. "What a new loan would do," one observer said, "is take on the existing facility, which is adequate, and extend it by creating a new loan in a larger amount with more flexibility."