INDIANAPOLIS -- It has been more than three months since Sun Capital Partners Inc. took over ownership of the Marsh chains of grocery stores and Village Pantry convenience stores. And to hear Kent Raphael tell it, despite a handful of store closings and analysts' theories that the c-store division will likely be sold again, operations are running as smoothly as ever.
"We're still early in the transition phase where Sun Capital Partners are taking us from a public to a private company, [but] our sales are good, and we remain profitable," Raphael, vice [image-nocss] president of merchandising for Village Pantry, told CSP Daily News. "I'm the most optimistic I've been at this company in years.
Raphael said the 150-store chain is getting more attentionand capitalfrom its new leadership than it did as a public company under the previous leadership.
The Village Pantry management team and our Sun project manager sit down together, and we develop ways to grow the business, said Raphael. Since it's not a public company, once we go through the analysis and Sun buys into a project, we do it."
He points to a recent update of the Indianapolis-based chain's coffee program as an example. "We got the opportunity to develop and rollout a new coffee program," Raphael said. "We've been wanting to do that for many years.
The new program includes the introduction of a new coffee blend and an updating of the chain's Bean Brothers logo and signage. "We have it in seven test stores now, and it's been doing very well. We're getting ready to roll it out to 20 more stores," said Raphael. "If the second group does nearly as well as the first group [is doing], that'll be a big sales lift."
Thus, regardless of the rumors and store closingsmost of which Raphael said were a long time comingthe vice president of the company sees good things ahead for Village Pantry.
Boca Raton, Fla.-based Sun Capital Partners closed on its $325 million acquisition of the regional grocery/convenience chain in late September.
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