The newly created moniker is a nod to the Needler family of Findlay, Ohio, third generation grocers. The former Marsh stores are owned by Michael Needler Jr. and his sister, Julie Needler Anderson.
The Hogsett administration plans to use federal grant funding to stimulate the development of one or more grocery stores and help eliminate food deserts.
Kroger said it will first focus on reopening seven of the stores, spending $20 million on renovations.
Rather than featuring long, tall aisles like traditional groceries, the new-format stores featured a courtyard in the center with a dozen “boutiques” around the perimeter, each selling a certain category of goods.
Sales to liquidate inventory at the 18 stores that weren’t sold at auction to other grocers this week could last until early July, said a Marsh spokesman.
Under the agreement, prospective store buyers Kroger and Fresh Encounter would be able to operate pharmacies at the locations much sooner than rival CVS expected.
CVS wants to prevent buyers from operating pharmacies. Lockerbie Marketplace's owners say Fresh Encounter has failed to demonstrate it has the financial wherewithal to "fully perform" under the Marsh lease it wants to take over in that shopping center.
For decades, Marsh Supermarkets has had a lock on the downtown grocery market. Proposed store sales disclosed Tuesday, combined with the impending opening of Whole Foods, set the stage for three-way showdown.
The 26 stores that the Kroger and Fresh Encounter chains have agreed to acquire span Indiana, as well as four cities in Ohio. Here’s the whole list.
The Fishers-based company would not provide details on the offers, which it is evaluating with creditors. The fate of its 44 remaining stores likely will be determined next week.
Fishers-based Marsh Supermarkets has received offers for at least some of its remaining 44 stores “from numerous bidders,” the company said Wednesday evening, less than two hours after the bid deadline set by bankruptcy court.
The deadline was Monday for the company to identify a so-called stalking horse bidder, which would make an initial offer for the grocer's assets that any other suitor would have to beat. Bidders for the business still could emerge, but time is running out.
Landlords across Indiana are feeling the pain from the collapse of Marsh Supermarkets, but none more so than a Canadian firm that had as many as 12 of the grocer’s stores in its portfolio.
The plan, approved by a bankruptcy judge, allows 10 employees to collectively receive up to $1.1 million in bonuses if certain conditions of a sale are met.
In 2006, when Sun Capital Partners bought Marsh Supermarkets, the bet looked risky at best.
Sun Capital Partners has relinquished controlling ownership of Marsh Supermarkets to a limited liability company that plans to sell the assets of remaining stores at auction a month from now, bankruptcy papers show.
The struggling grocery chain announced the move Thursday morning as it seeks a buyer for all or some of its remaining 44 stores.
Kroger said it didn’t plan the event to take advantage of the Marsh closings, but it welcomes the local grocery chain’s former employees. The grocer is looking to fill more than 300 positions.
The supermarket chain told state officials on Monday that it would close 16 stores within the next two months, if it can’t find buyers or business partners. But in fact all of Marsh’s stores will shut their doors if the company comes up empty-handed.
