Supervalu Inc., a pioneer in the Midwest grocery store that stumbled upon trying to run one of the country's largest chain stores, was sold on Thursday to an organic food specialist in a contract $ 2.9 billion that leaves the fate of Cub Foods.

United Natural Foods Inc., the firm of Providence, RI which is the largest distributor of Whole Foods and other natural food stores, has agreed to purchase Supervalu at Eden Prairie in a price well above

He also established plans to immediately sell Cub and half a dozen other grocery chains that provide about a third of the $ 14 billion annual revenue of Supervalu . United Natural Foods will retain the wholesale business of Supervalu, which distributes products to more than 3,300 grocery stores in approximately 40 states and employs more than 15,000 people.

For buyers in the twin cities and towns of Minnesota, the case 78 stores will be split between other chains, with some closing eventually. Mark Gross, CEO of Supervalu, said the recent improvements to the Cub firm helped the channel regain some lost ground early in the decade

"I think [Cub] has a bright future Investors in conference call

Since 2016, Cub has added new stores in Blaine and Oakdale and renovated nearly 30 of its Twin Cities properties, a new store is under construction, an urban concept store near the 46th and Hiawatha in Minneapolis

Last year, Supervalu hired Anne Dament, former head of groceries at Target Corp., to refresh her retail offerings as vice-principal. President of private and retail brands, his signature addition, quick and easy meals, has seen double-digit growth since its introduction

"Our Cub traffic and sales growth is stronger than we have seen for a very long time, "she said on Wednesday. expo for customers and wholesalers. Under Dament's leadership, Cub's flagship stores, such as Stillwater, add popcorn stations, a juice bar, a café-bar and a reorganized product department.

Cub, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year in the 1980s. In the metropolitan area, Cub has already commanded a staggering 40 percent of grocery shopping, but that has slid in recent years around 25 percent, according to surveys conducted by Metro Market Studies and Chain Store Guides

. investing in Cub and other grocery operations, has been hampered in the last decade after its $ 12 billion purchase of most assets of Albertsons Inc., more than 1,100 stores that she acquired mainly with debt in early 2006. When the recession arrived in 2008, Supervalu doubly pressed by thrifty customers migrating to discounters like Walmart and Dollar General and the burden of making payments on nearly billions of dollars in debt .

The company struggled to maintain the necessary investments to compete in the low-margin grocery store and, in 2013, sold most of the Albertsons chain to an investment company. Executives have refocused the company on wholesale grocery distribution, its business for the most part from a history dating back to the 1870s.

"When the market leader is mediocre, he calls for competition, "said David Livingston, a supermarket analyst at DJL Research in Milwaukee. . "Supervalu did not put a lot of money into his stores to invite them to come."

United Natural Foods' general manager, Sean Spinner, said he would sell Supervalu chain stores "in a thoughtful and economical manner". He stated that he will not always insist that companies that buy Supervalu grocery products remain Supervalu wholesale customers, as do the grocery stores.

"If so, we will separate the supply contracts from the sale of the banner." Analysts say Hy-Vee, Kroger and Albertsons are potential buyers for Cub's other retail activities. Supervalu, which include the Hornbacher chain of eight units in the Fargo-Moorhead market, 52. -store Shoppers in the Washington-Baltimore and Shop & # 39; n Save and Farm Fresh chains in the St. Louis area and the Mid-Atlantic states

Other candidates are Ahold USA, who bought Food Lion and Giant, and Overwaitea, Burt Flickinger of Strategic Resource Group, a New York consulting firm. He does not expect that a large number of Cub stores will be closed. "It is possible that they will be bought bundled and kept open," he said.

Hy-Vee announced last week the purchase of a Cub store in Plymouth on County Ro ad 24, closed two weeks ago. He plans to remodel the store and reopen it in the fall. Hy-Vee spokeswoman Tina Potthoff would not comment in other places. "We have nothing else to report on the acquisition of existing buildings in twinned cities at the moment," she said in an e-mail

Livingston said that he thought that the Cub chain would be shared between several buyers. the most successful ones attracting the most attention. "Kroger does not like fixers," he said. "Albertsons will seek to pick them up at a low price."

After Kroger, the country's largest grocery store, bought nearly 100 Roundy stores in Wisconsin in 2015, it closed about two dozen, including 12 in Milwaukee. comes just three weeks before Supervalu's shareholders vote on replacing the company's board of directors with a list of candidates backed by an activist investor who took a stake in the company there are about a year. The activist, an investment company called Blackwells Capital LLC in New York, advocated the sale of Supervalu's stores, among other things to boost its share price.

Blackwells did not immediately comment on the sale of Supervalu to United Natural Foods, a spokesperson for