Almost seven years after the families of Northwest Indiana’s largest grocery chain banded together to snatch the stores out of bankruptcy, it’s selling to a larger chain.
West Des Moines, Iowa-based Hy-Vee Inc. is acquiring Highland-based Indiana Grocery Group LLC, the parent of the Strack & Van Til Food Market chain, Hy-Vee announced in a release Wednesday. The acquisition is expected to be complete early next month, according to the release.
All 22 of the Indiana Grocery Group’s stores and some 2,800 employees in Lake and Porter Counties are included in the acquisition, but the stores will retain their names and operate as a subsidiary of Hy-Vee, according to the release. Even though Strack believes it’s found the “perfect partner,” it’ll be “business as usual” for employees and customers, said Strack’s CEO and President Jeff Strack.
Strack & Van Til meat wrapper Cynthia Zecevich stocks ground beef on fridge shelves in the fresh meat section at the store’s Schererville location on October 15, 2021. (Kyle Telechan/Post-Tribune)
“Everyone, including the HQ staff and entire executive team, will remain in their current jobs,” Strack said in an email Wednesday. “Our company name will remain the way it is today, and collective bargaining agreements will remain in effect.”
Hy-Vee, which currently has more than 550 groceries, pharmacies, convenience stores and restaurants in eight Midwestern states, is seeking to expand to Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana, and those talks were supposed to start this summer, an interview with Hy-Vee CEO Jeremy Grosch in trade magazine Progressive Grocer said. He, Strack and former Hy-Vee Executive Chairman Randy Edeker believe that Strack’s practices of excellent customer service, giving back to the community and taking care of its workers — Hy-Vee is an employee-owned corporation — will fit nicely under they Hy-Vee umbrella.
“Much like Hy-Vee founders Charles Hyde and David Vredenberg, Strack & Van Til’s growth and success remains rooted in the philosophy and principles of its two founders Ernie Strack and Nick Van Til,” Edeker said in the release. “Like Hy-Vee, the Strack & Van Til chain is also committed to delivering everyday value and providing quality groceries, perishables and freshly prepared foods.”
Shoppers look through the produce section at the Strack & Van Til store in Schererville in this Aug. 25, 2015 file photo. (John Smierciak/Post-Tribune)
“As our company continues to expand into Indiana and the Southeast region, Strack & Van Til’s customer-centric focus and company vision to ‘make lives easier’ aligns with Hy-Vee’s values and growth strategy,” Gosch added.
Town officials in Highland and Schererville, where two of the larger Strack & Van Til stores reside, were surprised at Wednesday’s announcement. Town of Schererville Council President Tom Schmitt, D-4, said the news was “shocking” but that Strack’s plays a major role in the community and is a “first-class operation.”
“Naturally, we hope they stay involved with the new company to provide that good service for our residents,” Schmitt said.
Highland Council President Phil Scheeringa said the council “doesn’t comment on matters of private business but hopes that Strack’s “maintains its competitive pricing, and high standards for products and customer service.”
The Strack and Van Til families, along with a few others, banded together and formed Indiana Grocery Group LLC in 2017 to buy at auction for more than $100 million the 20 stores and other assets owned by Joliet, Illinois-based Central Grocers, which had declared bankruptcy in May of that year, the Post-Tribune previously reported. Central Grocers had acquired the Highland-based Strack & Van Til in 1997.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
