C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc. announced it will acquire Olean Wholesale Grocery Cooperative, Inc. based in Olean, NY. The sale is expected to close in early 2019.
Olean Wholesale, a New York cooperative corporation founded in 1922, is a full-service grocery wholesaler with a variety of food products as well as non-food, household, and personal care items.
“As proven by the nearly 100 years of success with Olean Wholesale’s premier service model, Bob and the Olean team have established themselves as outstanding operators in the wholesale food business,” said Mike Duffy, C&S Wholesale Grocers Olean CEO.
The grocery cooperative services over 270 independent food retail and convenience stores throughout New York, Pennsylvania, and Northeast Ohio, including Service Stores Park & Shop in Olean and Portville, Ried’s Food Barn in Olean, Giant Food Mart in Cuba and Wellsville and Parkview Supermarket in Salamanca.
Olean Wholesale operates a 380,000-square-foot distribution center, with customers from Central New York to Northeastern Ohio and it has 30-plus stores in Pennsylvania alone, including Costa’s Super Market in Smethport and Eldred, Costa’s Food Center in Coudersport and Olivett’s ShurFine Food Mart of Emporium.
Current CEO and President, Robert Ketchner, will continue to manage the day-to-day operations, ensuring consistency for the employees, customers, and vendors.
“We have admired Olean Wholesale and the impressive organization its talented employees have built and very much look forward to partnering with the Olean team to continue this tradition and to expand the solutions available to their customers with the additional strength and scale of C&S,” stated Duffy.
Olean distributes all major product lines, including grocery, frozen, dairy, meat, produce, general merchandise, and health and beauty care and is also known for its full-service capabilities for its members.
“I am excited about the future and the new opportunities this partnership will offer the Members of Olean Wholesale. I believe that having the opportunity to combine the unquestioned service and dedication to our retailers with the scale and expertise of C&S Wholesale Grocers will only make us better. I have had the pleasure of servicing our members for over 20 years, and I look forward to working with our team for many more,” said Robert Ketchner, Olean CEO.
C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc., based in Keene, NH, was founded in 1918 as a supplier to independent grocery stores. The company owns the Piggly Wiggly grocery brand and the Best Yet private label. According to a press release, it is the largest wholesale grocery distributor in the nation based on revenue. Net sales totaled around $30 billion in 2015.
C & S supplies approximately 7,700 independent supermarkets, chain stores, military bases and institutions with more than 137,000 different products.