SN's Top 75 Retailers for 2009

The 75 largest food retailers and wholesalers in the U.S. and Canada combined to produce $893.08 billion in revenues in 2008, up 7.6% over their total in the preceding year. The sales volume includes revenues from both food and nonfood merchandise in North America for the companies' current or recently ended fiscal years. The volume increase reflects both the high levels of food inflation — estimated at about 5%-6% in for the year — combined with traffic growth at the chains on the list. The 10 largest companies on the list accounted for about 68.7% of the total volume on the list, the same proportion they comprised a year ago. Those 10 largest food retailers had combined revenues of $613.2 billion — up 7.5%, or $42.9 billion, over year-ago levels. They accounted for about two-thirds of the increase in volume among the entire Top 75. The top 20 companies on this year's list had revenues of $732.9 billion, up about 7.6% over year-ago volume levels. Those 20 largest operators accounted for 82.1% of the total volume among the Top 75, almost exactly the same as a year ago.

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ADDITIONAL NOTE: IGA, the Chicago-based voluntary network of independent grocers, accounted for 2007 sales of approximately $21.5 billion worldwide with just under 6,000 stores, including approximately $7 billion from 1,150 stores in the U.S.; $3 billion (U.S.) from 418 stores in Canada; and $11.5 billion from 4,400 stores in 42 countries outside North America. A large portion of IGA's volume in North America is included in the sales numbers for seven of IGA's 14 licensed wholesalers in the U.S. who appear on the Top 75 list (Affiliated Foods Midwest, Associated Wholesale Grocers, Bozzuto's, C&S Wholesale Grocers, Merchant Distributors Inc., Nash Finch Co., and Supervalu). Unified Grocers, Los Angeles, did not become an IGA licensed wholesaler until the end of 2007.