137
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.— Grand Rapids-based food solutions company SpartanNash has acquired Fresh Encounter Inc. (FEI), a 49-store supermarket chain with locations in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. This move expands SpartanNash’s retail footprint by 33 percent and marks the company’s second retail acquisition this year, following its purchase of Metcalfe’s Market in April. FEI operates stores under the banners Community Markets, Remke Markets, Chief Markets and Needler’s Fresh Market, and has been a food distribution customer of SpartanNash for 58 years. The transaction is expected to close in late November, subject to customary conditions.