Supervalu to Eliminate 800 Office Jobs to Reduce Expenses
February 08, 2012, 12:46 AM ESTBy Chris Burritt
(Updates stock price in final paragraph.)
Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Supervalu Inc., the owner of Save-A- Lot and Albertsons supermarket chains, will eliminate 800 jobs as part of a plan to trim expenses and lower grocery prices.
Most of the reductions will occur by Feb. 25 and include cutting current jobs and leaving open positions unfilled, Minneapolis-based Supervalu said today in a statement. The company had 142,000 employees as of Feb. 26, 2011, according to a securities filing. The move affects all company offices and most departments.
Chief Executive Officer Craig Herkert, a former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executive who took charge in 2009, has focused on lowering prices amid competition from discount and dollar store chains. The cost cuts will also generate capital to help pay for an expansion of Supervalu’s Save-A-Lot discount grocery chain and wholesale distribution to more than 2,000 independent retailers, according to the statement.
Supervalu fell 0.9 percent to $6.87 at 4:04 p.m. in New York. The shares dropped 16 percent last year.
--Editors: James Callan, Robin Ajello
To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Burritt in Greensboro at cburritt@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Robin Ajello at rajello@bloomberg.net
