Coborn’s has signed a purchase agreement to acquire the 11 family-owned Sullivan’s Foods grocery stores in northern and central Illinois, along with a convenience store fuel center and three Ace Hardware stores, the grocer announced late Friday.
The c-store and bp fuel outlet, Savanna Station, is in Savanna, Illinois. Coborn’s owns and operates more than 40 c-stores under the Coborn’s Express, Little Duke’s and Holiday Stationstore brands in Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota and North Dakota.
- Coborn's is No. 140 on CSP’s 2022 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by size.
The companies did not disclose the details of the transaction. They expect the deal to close early next month, St. Cloud, Minnesota-based Coborn’s said.
The grocery stores will continue to operate under the Sullivan’s Foods banner. Once the purchase is complete, Coborn’s will operate 77 grocery stores in Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, North Dakota, Michigan and Illinois, with a total of 135 business units including the grocery stores, liquor stores, fuel centers, pharmacies and franchised restaurants. Coborn’s grocery banners also include Cash Wise Foods, Marketplace Foods, Hornbacher’s and Tadych’s Marketplace Foods.
“This is our first entry into the state of Illinois, so we have some things to learn, some added distance to figure out and to onboard their team into our organization,” Coborn’s CEO Chris Coborn said.
Sullivan’s Foods is a grocery retail business started in 1967 by John and June Sullivan in Savanna, Illinois, and expanded the business in 1973. At one time, the Sullivans owned 16 grocery stores and two Ben Franklin craft stores.
“This sale makes perfect sense for our family and for our employees,” Susie Dauphin, secretary and property manager of Sullivan’s Foods, said. “Coborn’s has long been a highly respected company and our family felt perfectly aligned with their values, operational standards, support of the communities they operate in and, most importantly, the company culture and commitment to their employees.”
Sullivan’s Foods has worked with Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) as its lead wholesaler, a relationship that will continue following the sale, Coborn’s said. In 2021, Coborn’s named AWG its primary wholesale supplier. Around the same time, AWG invested $75 million to build a 330,000-square-foot Upper Midwest Division warehouse in St. Cloud to serve independent grocers in the region.
Coborn’s, which was founded as a single produce market in 1921, has grown steadily through acquisitions in recent years.
In November 2018, Coborn’s announced its plan to buy eight Hornbacher’s locations (seven existing stores and one under construction) from United Natural Foods (UNFI) subsidiary Supervalu.
In October 2021, the grocer announced an agreement to purchase six Tadych’s stores—three in Wisconsin and three in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan—from T&C Markets. The transaction gave Coborn’s a footprint in Michigan.
At the time, Coborn’s said it had annual revenue of $1.4 billion, with goal of becoming a $2 billion company as it builds new stores and acquires smaller grocers.
“The Sullivan family has run their family of stores with great care and is a highly respected retailer,” Coborn said. “We look forward to extending the same operating philosophies in these locations that have made us successful for 102 years—investing and training for our people, supporting our communities and investing in our stores to improve the experience for our guests. We look forward to having the entire Sullivan’s team join our team to learn more about their operations and communities.”
A version of this story first appeared inWinsight Grocery Business.
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