The Toledo Blade reports that Spartan Stores is focusing on two options as it prepares to unload its Food Town grocery chain -- selling in intact to a single buyer who would sign a long-term supply agreement with the wholesaler, or breaking it up and selling it in chunks to various competitors.
If the first alternative is pursued, according to the report, it would involve both existing Spartan management as well as outside participants.
A decision is expected by the end of the month.
If the first alternative is pursued, according to the report, it would involve both existing Spartan management as well as outside participants.
A decision is expected by the end of the month.
- KC's View:
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Tough decision for Spartan. The first scenario has better long-term potential, but also is riskier in terms of the short-term. And considering the current environment, who could blame Spartan for being a little risk-averse.
In ancient Sparta, of course, the philosophy was that if you had a child that was in any way less than perfect, you left him on a mountainside to fend for himself, knowing that it was entirely likely that he’d be eaten by wolves. But Sparta was a governed by a hard-nosed “survival of the fittest” philosophy…we’ll see if this historical precedent plays into Spartan’s decision.
