Dive Brief:
- United Natural Foods, Inc. has agreed to sell three Cub Foods locations to franchise partner Jerry’s Enterprises, a spokesperson for the grocery retailer and wholesaler confirmed Friday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- The stores, in Minneapolis, Monticello and St. Anthony, Minnesota, will remain under the Cub banner. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reported the transaction last week.
- UNFI’s decision to sell the supermarkets is connected with “Cub’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the business and become Minnesota’s No. 1 grocer,” the grocer said in an emailed statement.
Dive Insight:
UNFI concluded that selling the stores to Jerry’s will allow the grocery company to direct resources toward strengthening the Cub banner, the spokesperson indicated.
The company’s retail segment, which also includes East Coast chain Shoppers, has posted sagging sales in recent quarters.
“Jerry’s has a proven track record of operating high-performing Cub stores and delivering a great experience for shoppers, and this transition will allow for continued investment in these locations while supporting Cub’s efforts to build a stronger, more competitive network across Minnesota,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.
The spokesperson did not say when the sale is expected to close, but indicated that the stores would receive “ongoing enhancements and investments.”
Speaking during UNFI’s investor day last December, David Best, the company’s president and CEO of retail, said UNFI determined that Cub needs to improve its focus on shoppers, strengthen its assortment and deliver better value.
“One of the things I’ve long felt is all the headlines are about how these big mass players are gaining share in food. And that's true, but what's often underreported is the fact that there's lots of differentiating unique retailers out there also winning and breaking through in the marketplace,” said Best, a former president and chief operating officer at Coborn’s Inc. who arrived at UNFI in August 2025.
UNFI CEO Sandy Douglas indicated during the investor day event that while the company was optimistic about Cubs’s prospects, it considers the division to be in turnaround mode and decided not to include the value it hopes to derive from the chain.
“For investors, the Cub turnaround is not part of our projections,” Douglas said. “It’s something that, as David succeeds, will generate incremental value for the business.”
