FREMONT, Calif. -- Convenience-store retailer Vintners Distributors LLC has signed an agreement with grocery and foodservice supply-chain services company McLane Co. Inc. covering 126 Vintners' c-store locations including 15 Loop Neighborhood Stores.
With the deal, Vintners secures access to McLane's industry-leading foodservice offerings and McLane’s suite of retail technologies that increase operational efficiencies.
“Foodservice is our No. 1 priority, and we’re determined to deliver fresh, quality food choices to our customers,” said Vintners COO Pervez Pir. “McLane has similar objectives.”
Vintners is also focused on growing its current store base via acquisition and opening additional Loop Neighborhood Stores.
“McLane is a leader in the wholesale forum, and we are excited to partner with them. They have a tenured team that is customer-centric and delivers on their promise. Additionally, McLane team members are flexible and react quickly to the ever-changing retail business, which is what we are looking for in the current landscape,” said Pir.
McLane’s retail and smart handheld (SHH) technology will enable Vintners c-stores to order, check in and return items efficiently and better manage reconciliation, allowing staff to spend more time on the sales floor with customers, improve accuracy of inventory and save on labor costs, the company said.
Vintners will work with the McLane Center for Category Innovation (CCI), formerly known as the McLane Lab Store, to conduct SKU rationalization in order to develop a product mix that focuses on the top 20% of its best-selling products.
“We sense real excitement with the Vintners management team and are pleased to welcome them to the McLane family,” said Tim Hoime, senior manager of business development at McLane. “They are eager to drive sales with McLane technology and sell smarter utilizing McLane’s Center for Category Innovation. They are focused and employ sound business strategies, which makes for a very strong partnership.”
Vintners is a branded retailer of fuels throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Starting in 1978, Vintners has been family owned and operated, and professionally managed, providing clean stores and high-quality fuels since its inception. Fremont, Calif.-based Vintners also operates the Loop Neighborhood Store, an "all-in-one convenience store and marketplace."
McLane is a $48 billion supply-chain services leader, providing grocery and foodservice supply-chain solutions for convenience stores, mass merchants, drug stores and chain restaurants throughout the United States. McLane, through McLane Grocery, McLane Foodservice and wholly owned subsidiary, Meadowbrook Meat Company Inc. (MBM), operates 80 distribution centers across the United States and one of the nation’s largest private fleets. The company buys, sells and delivers more than 50,000 different consumer products to nearly 90,000 U.S. locations. It also provides alcohol beverage distribution through its wholly owned subsidiary, Empire Distributors Inc.
Temple, Texas-based McLane is a wholly owned unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Omaha.
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