Schnuck Markets has agreed to buy roughly half of the Shop ’n Save stores in the St. Louis area in a deal that CEO Todd Schnuck called a “generational transaction.”

The 19 Shop ’n Save stores to be acquired — 14 on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River and five in the Metro East — will be closed in waves of three beginning Oct. 7, undergo a renovation and reopen as a Schnucks store less than three days later.

A schedule of the closures and reopenings has not yet been released. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The approximately 1,500 Shop ’n Save union-represented employees working at those locations will be offered jobs at the Schnucks stores, pending a background check.

“I am happy to hear that a good family-owned employer here in St. Louis will be adding to their union family by acquiring many Shop ’n Save locations,” David Cook, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union that represents Shop ’n Save employees, said in a statement. “Our union’s number one priority remains maintaining the good benefits and wages of our hard-working partners at Shop ’n Save.”

All Shop ’n Save store directors, pharmacy managers and pharmacists will be interviewed by Schnucks over the next week, the company said.