Save A Lot operator joins Wakefern under Price Rite banner

Save A Lot grocer Madison Foods Corp. has joined the Wakefern Food Corp. retail cooperative and plans to remodel three stores in Massachusetts to the Price Rite Marketplace banner.

Owned and operated by the Slawsby family, Brockton, Mass.-based Madison Foods is slated to convert its Save A Lot discount supermarkets in Roslindale (650 American Legion Hwy.), Roxbury (333 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.) and Brockton (240 E. Ashland St.) to Wakefern’s Price Rite value grocery format in the coming weeks, Wakefern said Monday. Plans also call for the Slawsby family to open a new Price Rite store at 500 Geneva Ave. in Dorchester, Mass., in January.

“I am excited to welcome the Slawsby family to our Wakefern cooperative, which is made up of family-owned, independent grocers with a 75-year history in the supermarket business,” Wakefern Chairman and CEO Joseph Colalillo said in a statement. “These stores will expand the Price Rite Marketplace brand in the Boston area and bring the Price Rite commitment of value and quality to the communities of Roslindale, Roxbury, Brockton and Dorchester.”

Besides converting three stores from the Save A Lot banner, Madison Foods plans to open a new Price Rite Marketplace store in Dorchester, Mass., in January.

Under the Price Rite banner, the Madison Foods’ stores will continue to offer experienced butchers and a variety of ethnic foods and value products, Wakefern noted, adding that customers will notice new Price Rite advertising circulars with special deals. Other additions to the converted locations include Wakefern private-label products, including Bowl & Basket food and Paperbird nonfood groceries as well as the better-for-you Wholesome Pantry and Wholesome Pantry Organic brands, which include a range of natural and “free from” products plus organic offerings. 

Related:Price Rite expands Bowl & Basket and Paperbird private-label brands

“We will continue to provide all the things our customers know and love while adding more variety and award-winning store brands that the Wakefern cooperative offers,” stated Todd Slawsby, president of Madison Foods, who runs the business with his father Harold and brother Jonathan. 

The Slawsby family has been operating grocery stores in the Boston area since the 1940s, when Harold’s father, Ben Slawsby, started a meat market in Dorchester that eventually became Capitol Foods, a 10-store supermarket chain.

“This is the exciting next chapter in my family’s history in the grocery business,” Todd Slawsby added. “I want to thank shoppers for their support and patience as we undertake rebranding efforts and make the change to Price Rite Marketplace.”

Currently, Wakefern’s Price Rite Marketplace banner encompasses more than 60 stores in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Maryland. 

Related:Save A Lot stores in Nashville acquired by local investor

Madison Foods marks Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern’s 51st member. During its recently completed 2020 fiscal year, Wakefern added one new member, Nicholas Supermarkets, owned by the Maniaci family, which operates four The Fresh Grocer stores in northern New Jersey. The cooperative also added Fairway Market as a new store banner when member Village Super Market acquired five of the bankrupt chain’s stores in the New York City area.

Overall, Wakefern’s retail network now has 362 supermarkets in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island under the ShopRite, The Fresh Grocer, Price Rite Marketplace, Gourmet Garage, Fairway Market and Dearborn Market banners.