The parent company of Region institution Strack & Van Til, Northwest Indiana's largest locally owned grocery store chain, plans to sell off 22 of its stores and close nine Ultra Foods discount supermarkets, company officials said Tuesday.
The iconic supermarket chain started 58 years ago in Highland, grew by opening new stores and acquiring competitors like WiseWay and PayLow, and is currently headquartered on 45th Street in Highland. It is owned by Central Grocers Inc. co-op in Joliet, which is now working toward a sale. The $2 billion co-op, a wholesaler that supplies 400 independent grocery stores across Chicagoland, did not disclose the prospective buyer.
Strack & Van Til had just announced the closure of five stores in March, and now says it will close underperforming Ultras in Gary, the Merrill Point shopping center in Merrillville, Lansing, Crestwood, Wheaton, Joliet, Chicago Heights, Calumet Park and Forest Park as a condition of the sale.
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