Kroger, another grocery to buy some Marsh stores

Keith Roysdon | The Star Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Kroger, another rival could swallow up Marsh stores Marsh wants to sell a bunch of its remaining supermarkets to a subsidiary of Kroger, according to Marsh's bankruptcy filing. It's the latest chapter in a battle of Midwestern grocery chains.

MUNCIE, Ind. — A little more than a month after Marsh Supermarkets filed for bankruptcy and began its quest to find buyers for its remaining 44 stores, Kroger and another Ohio grocery store chain are poised to step in.

A motion filed Tuesday in Marsh Supermarkets' bankruptcy case indicates at least 11 of Marsh's remaining 44 stores would be sold to a subsidiary of supermarket giant Kroger. Others will go to an Ohio-based supermarket chain that's grown in recent months.

Kroger declined to comment on the sale until the bankruptcy court rules on the pending sale motion, a company spokesman told The Star Press late Tuesday afternoon.

The paperwork, filed by Marsh for the approval of the judge in the Hoosier grocery chain's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in the state of Delaware, indicates Marsh is seeking approval to sell 11 of its "core" stores to Topvalco Inc., a Kroger subsidiary, for $16 million.

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Another 15 stores would be sold to Generative Growth LLC for about $8 million. Generative Growth LLC is a Findlay, Ohio-based supermarket company that in February bought 10 Remke Markets in the Cincinnati area with the apparent intention of operating them under Fresh Encounter brands.

Tom Mulligan, a Marsh spokesman, told The Star Press late Tuesday afternoon that the company would not have a comment on Tuesday. A message left for the media contact at Generative Growth did not immediately return messages left seeking comment.

An initial court filing didn't designate which stores went to which bidders but in a subsequent filing, lists of stores to be acquired for both Topvalco/Kroger and Generative Growth were included.

Among East Central Indiana locations, the Marsh store at Wheeling Avenue and McGalliard Road in Muncie is listed as going to Topvalco/Kroger, as is the South Tillotson Avenue store. For Generative Growth II, the only East Central Indiana Marsh location listed is one on North Walnut Street in Hartford City.

The filing notes an objection from Danari Muncie Plaza LLC, the owner of the property at Wheeling and McGalliard, to "proposed purchaser" Topvalco/Kroger. The paperwork does not specify what the objection is.

The list of successful bids does not include other Muncie Marsh locations, including the North Walnut Street and Burlington Drive stores. It's possible those could be included in yet-to-be-announced sales to other companies. The National Road Marsh in Richmond is listed as going to Generative Growth/Fresh Encounter, which reportedly operates under store brands including Community Markets and Sack-n-Save.

As business conditions worsened for Marsh in recent years and competition from Walmart, Meijer and other grocery sellers increased, the company sold some stores and closed others. Just before Marsh filed for bankruptcy on May 11, it ordered the closing of several stores around the state. The fate of the company's 44 remaining "core" stores was to be decided in an auction, conducted in Delaware, on Monday.

Kroger hasn't operated in Muncie since the 1970s, but in recent years operated a smaller, discount store, Ruler Foods, on Muncie's northwest side. The store sells Kroger brands.

Lists of successful bidders and the selected stores included in bankruptcy paperwork are:

Successful bidder 1: Topvalco, Inc. (A Kroger subsidiary)

Bloomington, 1825 Kinser Pike

Brownsburg, 843 E. Main St.

Zionsville, 10679 N. Michigan

Zionsville, 5 Boone Village

Greenwood, 2904 S. Ind. 135

Bloomington, 123 S. Kingston Drive

Muncie, 1500 W. McGalliard Road

Indianapolis, 1435 W. 86th St.

Muncie, 715 S. Tillotson Ave.

Indianapolis, 227 W. Michigan St.

Fishers, 12520 E. 116th St.

Successful bidder 2: Generative Growth II, LLC (Operator of Fresh Encounter)

New Palestine, 5802 W. U.S. 52

Marion, 1013 Forest Ave.

Van Wert, Ohio, 1107 S. Shannon

Indianapolis, 11625 Fox Road

Columbus, 3075 E. 25th St.

Middletown, Ohio, 621 N. University Blvd.

Troy, Ohio, 982 N. Market

Hartford City, 1711 N. Walnut

Eaton, Ohio, 223 Aukerman

Elwood, 1515 S. Ind. 37

Tipton, 899 E. Jefferson

Pendleton, 3015 W. U.S. 36

Indianapolis, 320 N. New Jersey St.

Richmond, 501 National Road West

Greensburg, 736 W. Main St.

Contact Keith Roysdon at 765-213-5828 and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

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