same name in other countries see supervalu . supervalu inc. type public traded as nyse svu industry retailing founded minneapolis minnesota 1926 ; 90 years ago 1926 headquarters eden prairie minnesota u.s. area served united states key people mark gross ceo products supermarkets grocery store pharmacies food revenue usd 19.65 billion fy 2015 operating income usd 895 million fy 2015 net income usd 202 million fy 2015 total assets usd 4.606 billion fy 2015 total equity usd 1.444 billion fy 2015 number of employees 43 532 2015 subsidiaries supervalu pharmacies hornbacher s website supervalu.com supervaluuniversity.com supervalurealty.com designservicesgroup.com supervalu inc. is an american retailing company . the corporation headquartered in the minneapolis suburb of eden prairie minnesota 2 has been in business for nearly a century . it is the fifth largest food retailing company in the united states after kroger and albertsons and ranks in the top 100 on the 2015 fortune 500 list . supermarket news ranked supervalu 1 in the 2008 top wholesalers for 2008 . 3 on june 2 2006 boise idaho based albertsons inc. and 1 124 of its stores were sold to supervalu . the sale was approved by the shareholders of both supervalu and albertsons on may 30 2006 . in january 2013 the company announced it was selling the acme markets shaw s and jewel osco chains and their remaining albertsons stores to cerberus capital management for 100 million in cash with cerberus assuming 3.2 billion in existing debt . supervalu would keep its cub farm fresh shoppers food & pharmacy shop n save and hornbacher s brands as well as its wholesale supply operation while the acme shaw s star market and jewel osco stores were reunited with albertsons . 4 the deal closed march 21 2013 . contents 1 history 1.1 acquisitions 1.2 today 2 overview 3 market share 4 chains 4.1 former chains 5 product labels 6 culture 6.1 diversity 6.2 environment 7 controversy 8 customer data security breaches 9 see also 10 references 11 external links history edit in 1870 hugh g. harrison provided the money for b.s. bull and company a dry goods wholesaler serving minneapolis . though b.s. bull and company was short lived its founders went on to create a similar company . in 1926 supervalu s direct ancestor winston and newell company was founded from the merger of winston harper and fisher and the newell company two companies founded by b. s. bull s backers . winston and newell was a charter member of the independent grocers alliance in 1928 but left iga in 1942 in favor of forming a virtual chain of independently owned stores that operated under the supervalu and u save banners . however it still serves as a supplier to many iga stores . this concept proved to be such a success that in 1952 the company changed its name to supervalu inc. the name was modified to supervalu in 1992 . the company has been listed on the new york stock exchange since 1967 and was the first voluntary group to be listed there . acquisitions edit in 1963 the company acquired the food marketing corporation of fort wayne indiana which traced its roots to the early 1800s as bursley & company . the acquisition of food marketing brought supervalu into the institutional market . 5 george w. mckay the president of food marketing joined supervalu as an executive vice president and later as president and chief executive officer of supervalu in 1970 . 6 in 1971 the discount chain shopko was acquired by supervalu inc. and was spun off in 1991 to form a separate publicly traded company . supervalu retained a 46 % interest in the new company which shopko later purchased in 1997 . in 1975 supervalu acquired hornbacher s sale to cerberus pending . in 1980 the company acquired minnesota based cub foods which operated five stores in the twin cities area . as of 2011 cub is operating more than 73 stores in minnesota and illinois . in the early 1990s supervalu started acquiring several chains such as scott s food & pharmacy in 1991 wetterau inc. and its holdings shop n save and save a lot in 1992 and bigg s in 1994 . scotts & biggs have been divested . biggs was sold to remke markets and kroger bought scotts . supervalu acquired richfood holdings for 1.5 billion adding a mid atlantic distribution presence and stores including farm fresh food & pharmacy shoppers food & pharmacy and metro . on january 23 2006 supervalu announced that it along with cvs corporation and a collection of investors led by cerberus group agreed to acquire albertsons inc. for 9.7 billion . the acquisition was completed on june 2 2006 . supervalu acquired over 2150 stores in the deal including acme 134 locations sold to cerberus acme express jewel express and albertsons express 107 fuel centers units were divested to various operators albertsons 564 locations sold to cerberus bristol farms 15 locations later sold off jewel and jewel osco 198 locations sold to cerberus lazy acres market 1 location later sold off max foods 3 locations later rebranded lucky osco pharmacy and sav on pharmacy 906 pharmacies stand alones sold to cvs save a lot 2 locations franchised by shaw s shaw s 188 locations sold to cerberus star market 20 locations 7 re branded shaw s sold to cerberus in july 2016 it was announced that supervalu had entered into a purchase agreement with ahold and delhaize group for 22 food lion locations in maryland pennsylvania virginia and west virginia as part of the divestiture of stores to gain clearance from the federal trade commission for the impending ahold delhaize merger . the 22 stores are expected to be rebranded under the shop n save retail banner and be offered to some of supervalu s wholesale customers that have an interest in these stores going forward . 7 today edit in 2012 supervalu operates 2 505 food and food drug combination stores 878 in store pharmacies and 117 fuel centers and serves as primary distributor to an additional 2 200 stores . supervalu also supplies a network of independent retailers often found in smaller cities that sometimes use the supervalu name . however these stores are not owned by the company . supervalu also franchises the cub foods and save a lot brands to independent retailers . in 2009 former walmart executive craig herkert took over for jeff noddle as ceo of supervalu . 8 on january 6 2011 supervalu announced it would close 20 underperforming stores on the east and west coasts as it attempted to save money by allowing corporate and office employees to take unpaid time off . 9 the company despite being profitable is facing financial problems due to a weak economy tight margins falling revenue and asset values . citation needed on january 11 2011 supervalu reported a loss of 202 million for the quarter ; revenue also fell 6 % to 8.67 billion . stock prices fell 12 percent to 7.52 per share . 10 the company operates on a strategy of effective and efficient food distribution . the company conducts its retail food operations through a total of 2 349 retail food stores that are supplied by 23 dedicated distribution centers and 9 distribution centers . 11 in september 2011 supervalu announced the sale of all but 27 of its fuel centers to several convenience store chains including tesoro holiday stationstores couche tard which operates circle k stores and stinker stores . the company announced that it was seeking buyers for the remaining fuel centers as well . on july 11 2012 after the close of trading supervalu reported net sales of 10.6 billion and net earnings of 41 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2013 compared to net sales of 11.1 billion and net earnings for 74 million for the year earlier period . those results sent supervalu shares down some 45 % after the start of trading on july 12 2012 and hurt performance of other outstanding supervalu debt including its high yield bonds and cds credit default swap . 12 on july 30 2012 craig herkert was terminated as ceo of supervalu replaced with wayne sales . 13 sales is a former ceo of canadian tire . 14 on january 13 2013 sam duncan who had retired as ceo of naperville ill based office max in 2011 was named ceo of supervalu on february 3 2016 mark gross was named ceo of supervalu replacing sam duncan 15 overview edit as a supplier to iga stores for over 80 years supervalu necessarily has formed close relationships with these family owned grocery businesses some of which have had relationships with the corporation for over two or three generations . but walmart s newly arrived grocery competition to these stores also affects supervalu inc. in addition supervalu is selling its shop n save stores in the pittsburgh market as a result of being unable to compete with walmart and fast growing local chain giant eagle . most will be sold to independent owners and continue to operate under the shop n save banner . supervalu will continue to supply all area foodland save a lot and the independent shop n save locations of western pennsylvania and northern west virginia . supervalu enjoys economies of scale when dealing with the well known national food firms like kraft foods general mills kellogg s the beer manufacturers meat suppliers produce suppliers and dairy suppliers as well as the health and beauty product suppliers by purchasing in bulk and then distributing the goods by direct store delivery from its distribution centers which are located nationwide . the ethnic foods market is an emerging sector and remains a challenge for this business as well as the natural and organic foods sector as there are no clear market leaders for the corporation to deal with in these sectors . it remains to be seen whether supervalu s tradition of dealing with small grocery businesses can be extended to these emerging markets . supervalu brands include arctic shores baby basics carlita culinary circle equaline essential everyday farm fresh farm stand flavorite wholecare pet homelife java delight max velocity nutriplan richfood shoppers value stockman & dakota stone ridge creamery superchill supercrunch and wild harvest supervalu also owns two third party logistics firms advantage logistics and total logistic control . in 2005 supervalu launched a specialty produce company w. newell & company which is headquartered in champaign illinois . market share edit as of 2006 supervalu has a leading market share position in several markets where it has operations . operations with a denoted indicate operations supervalu has divested . first philadelphia pa nj acme minneapolis st.paul mn cub foods fargo nd hornbacher s chicago il jewel jewel osco billings mt albertsons nampa boise id albertsons las vegas nv albertsons orange county ca albertsons second norfolk virginia beach va farm fresh food & pharmacy boston ma nh me shaw s and star market spokane wa albertsons st. louis mo shop n save riverside san bernardino ca albertsons san diego ca albertsons ventura ca albertsons duluth mn superior wi cub foods third pittsburgh pa shop n save seattle bellevue everett tacoma wa albertsons washington d.c. baltimore md shoppers los angeles long beach ca albertsons chains edit the company operates under multiple retail banners or chains cub foods 77 locations of which 31 are franchised minneapolis st. paul mn and il . farm fresh food & pharmacy 46 locations norfolk virginia beach and richmond va plus elizabeth city nc hornbacher s 6 locations fargo moorhead nd mn save a lot 1250 locations of which 860 are franchised nationwide shop n save 42 locations st. louis mo southern il and springfield il not to be confused with the pittsburgh area shop n save stores which are no longer owned by supervalu shoppers food & pharmacy 56 locations washington d.c.