Wakefern Food Corp. has entered into an agreement to buy Morton Williams stores in the New York City metro area, with the New Jersey-based cooperative retaining the grocer’s name and its 17 locations operating as a wholly owned subsidiary.
“This acquisition is an incredible opportunity to continue the legacy of a storied New York City grocer while building on the business and adding even more product offerings, value and quality for shoppers,” said Wakefern President Mike Stigers.
“Wakefern is committed to honoring the traditions of Morton Williams by bringing high-quality fresh foods and groceries to residents of one of the greatest cities in the world.”
Wakefern Chairman Sean McMenamin noted that the acquisition is part of the company’s “aggressive growth strategy” to expand market share and wholesale distribution reach.
“Wakefern’s leadership team and board of directors has a vision for our cooperative that is transformative,” he said. “We are positioning Wakefern for sustainable, lasting growth that will impact future generations of our membership.”
The Morton Williams family has owned and operated the stores for three generations. The company was founded in 1952 by brothers Joe and Irving Sloan, with the former’s sons Morton and William building upon the business and expanding to supermarkets in the New York City area.
They would go on to reinvent the business again in the 1970s, when they began opening new, reimagined markets in Manhattan. They changed the name of the new stores to Morton Williams and opened locations with kitchens, chefs and a focus on fresh prepared foods.
Carrying on the legacy, Morton Williams is now guided by the third generation – Avi Kaner, Morton Sloan’s son-in-law; David Sloan, his son; and Steven Sloan, the son of William Sloan.
“Like Wakefern, which was founded by neighborhood grocers, we are also a family business and proud of the company we’ve built over the decades. Supermarkets are an important part of the fabric of the neighborhoods they serve. Wakefern understands that,” said Kaner, speaking on behalf of the family.
“We know our company, its team members and loyal customers are in good hands as it moves into the future under Wakefern’s leadership.”
Kevin McDonnell, currently president of Wakefern’s wholly-owned subsidiary PRRC Inc., will serve as the Wakefern executive leading Morton Williams. PRRC operates stores under the Price Rite Marketplace banner.
“I look forward to working with the team at Morton Williams to ensure we continue delivering the service and quality the brand is known for and at the same time offering greater value that comes from being part of a cooperative,” McDonnell said. “The buying power of the cooperative, which has more than 360 stores in nine states, and the legacy of Morton Williams service is a winning combination.”
McDonnell is a 40-year supermarket industry veteran with broad experience in store operations, merchandising, marketing and management.
Morton Williams offers online shopping and operates 15 stores in Manhattan, a store in the Bronx and another in Jersey City.
About Wakefern Food Corp.
Wakefern Food Corp. is the largest retailer-owned cooperative in the U.S. Founded in 1946, it comprises member families that today independently own and operate hundreds of supermarkets under the ShopRite, Price Rite Marketplace, The Fresh Grocer, Dearborn Market, Gourmet Garage, Fairway Market, Di Bruno Bros. banners in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
About Morton Williams
Morton Williams is known for its upscale offerings, personalized service and deep roots in neighborhoods. Its stores, many of which are open 24/7, feature fresh, high-quality produce, gourmet cheeses, premium meats and chef-prepared meals. The company also provides full-service catering, as well as online shopping and delivery.
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Once again, Wakefern shows why it’s the leading co-op in the land, and the leader in the tri state area decades after it came to dominate the region. Despite the Walmarts and Costcos, the Trader Joes and the Aldis, ShopRite dominates, and it has made many families fabulously wealthy.
Once, a while back, I thought our family business, Mayfair Supermarkets, trading under the Foodtown banner, and the largest member of the Twin County Co-op, could catch up to or even surpass Wakefern/ShopRite, our fiercest competitor. Or, if we couldn’t do it, then Wakefern’s spinoff, Pathmark, surely would. That’s not what happened though. Twin County is gone, Mayfair and other Foodtowns sold to Ahold, and Pathmark a ghost.
There is always a time to consider what the finance bros call a ‘liquidity event’ and apparently this is the time for Morton Williams (my family shopped there in Greenwich Village). There comes a time when the need for scale kicks in, and the owners need to take their equity out.
As for me, I sold the company I subsequently grew, Murray’s Cheese, to Kroger, still the nation’s largest conventional chain, and now there are over 1400 Murray’s shops within their superstores across the land. My vision of bringing real cheese to America continues.
So the American dream continues in groceries: immigrants open a store, the next generation builds upon it, and perhaps the third or fourth grows a modern company with great success, until the scale needed to continue that growth necessitates a sale, which therefore constitutes a happy ending for the family that began it generations ago.