Associated Wholesale Grocers, (AWG), announced its successful unification with Affiliated Foods Midwest (AFM). With its first shipments to stores out of its newest divisions in Norfolk, Nebraska and Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday, October 23rd, the combined cooperative will operate singularly as AWG with over 1000 independent members. This combination of retailers makes AWG the largest wholesale grocery cooperative in the United States supplying groceries in 35 states. Coupled with the expanded retailer member base and geographic footprint, the combination enables AWG to expand its offerings to its retail members with the addition of a retail accounting subsidiary and a digital marketing subsidiary.
David Smith, AWG’s President and CEO said: “From the moment Barry Queen (AWG’s Chairman of the Board) and I started our discussions with AFM’s President and CEO Martin Arter and his Chairman John Clarke, we knew our companies were a great fit”. This new region of AWG will be led by new senior executive Martin Arter, the former President and CEO of AFM. According to Smith, “Marty is an extraordinary individual and he is the perfect leader for this new endeavor.”
This combination allows AWG to better serve retailers in northern states such as North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Smith commented, “The expansion of our collective distribution areas into several new adjoining states where there remains a large number of independent grocers but few wholesale options is already paying dividends as retailers in those states are already making inquiries and asking how soon we can onboard new customers. With the current enthusiasm we are witnessing, our new Great Lakes Division in Kenosha may top $1 Billion in annual sales sooner than we initially anticipated.” The combination also allows AWG to expand its footprint west to service independent grocers in Wyoming and Colorado.
Most importantly, Smith stressed, “We are so thankful for the support of our membership, our dedicated employees, and our fantastic vendor partners. It takes all three of these constituencies working together in unison to become and remain successful. We have that going for us and believe that we will accomplish great things as we are truly stronger together. ”
Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. (AWG) is a retailer-owned cooperative serving retail member stores with a complete assortment of grocery, frozen foods, dairy and refrigerated products, fresh meat, and fresh produce, together with a full array of specialty foods, health and beauty care products, international foods, dollar products, and general merchandise items supplied by its wholly owned subsidiary Valu Merchandisers Company, Inc. (VMC). AWG/VMC, with the addition of the AFM facilities and its members, operates an extensive distribution network of eleven highly efficient distribution centers, serving over 3,800 retail outlets, representing well over $20 billion in retail supermarket sales, and generating annualized wholesale sales of approximately $10 billion on a consolidated basis.
Source: Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc.
