Spartan to close five Pharm drug stores

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. Spartan Stores on Thursday announced the closing of five Pharm drug stores and one convenience store, all of which were acquired through the recent Felpausch acquisition, by the end of September.

The five Pharm retail stores generated approximately $30 million in net sales and recorded an operating loss of approximately $0.4 million during fiscal 2007.

“The closing of any of our retail stores is always a difficult but necessary decision,” stated Spartan chairman, president and chief executive officer Craig Sturken. “These particular stores did not meet our performance criteria, were located in outlying markets with limited growth potential and had leases expiring in a relatively short time period.”

The Company expects to record a pretax gain of approximately $0.8 million from the sale of  related assets in its fiscal 2008 second quarter.  The net gain on the transaction will be recorded as discontinued operations on the company’s financial statements.    

 The Pharm retail stores are located in Napoleon, Findlay, Bowling Green, Lima, and Port Clinton, Ohio.  The ExpressMart convenience store is located in Mason, Michigan.  Following  the closing of these retail stores, Spartan Stores retail store base will consist of 88 retail supermarkets and 14 Pharm drug stores.