Marsh Supermarkets was an American retail food chain headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with a peak number of 86 stores in 2013 located throughout central Indiana and parts of western Ohio (including metropolitan Cincinnati). Its eventual parent company was Sun Capital Partners, headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.
The company filed for bankruptcy on May 11, 2017, and was eventually liquidated. Topvalco, Inc., a subsidiary of supermarket competitor Kroger purchased 11 out of the 44 remaining stores while Ohio-based Fresh Encounter purchased another 15 stores. The unsold 18 stores were closed on or before July 8, 2017.
History
1931-1959: The Ermal Marsh years Founded in 1931 in Muncie, the company went public in 1953 and grew to a maximum of 97 locations. Of the 97 locations, 69 were marketed as Marsh Supermarkets, three were O'Malia's Markets and 25 were the MainStreet Market banner. The company's founder, Ermal Marsh, was able to hold together his first store throughout the Great Depression and World War II. After the war ended, Ermal expanded his store into "Marsh Foodliners" and created the first supermarket in Muncie.
In 1952, Ermal had built the first warehouse distribution center for Marsh Supermarkets in Yorktown, Indiana. Within that same year, Marsh stores also introduced their own popular brand of ice cream. In 1953 when the company went public, Ermal had an operation of 16 Marsh Supermarkets.
In August 1956, the first store in the state of Ohio was opened through the acquisition of a pre-existing store in Van Wert, Ohio, Alternate Link via NewspaperArchive.com. and was quickly followed a few months later by the opening of a newly constructed store in Greenville, Ohio, in October. Alternate Link via NewspaperArchive.com.
Ermal Marsh died near the city of Logansport, Indiana in an August 1959 airplane crash; his brother Estel succeeded him as company president.
1959-2006: The Estel and Don Marsh years Under Estel Marsh, the name of the company was changed from Marsh Foodliners to Marsh Supermarkets in 1960. Alternate Link via NewspaperArchive.com.
Adapting to a rising trend, Marsh Supermarkets decided to open a new wave of convenience stores across Indiana. In 1966, the very first Village Pantry store and gas station was opened. Alternate Link via NewspaperArchive.com.
In 1968 as Marsh Supermarkets continued to grow, Estel Marsh was promoted to chairman of the board. This promotion cleared the way for Don Marsh, the then-thirty-year-old son of Ermal Marsh, to step forward as the new president. As president, Don was able to be a front-runner in Marsh's progression and adaptation to new technologies.
One of Marsh's most distinguishing features was its innovation and early adoption of retail technology. On June 26, 1974, a Marsh location in Troy, Ohio, became the first grocery store in the world to use a bar code scanner. The first item scanned was a ten-piece pack of gum. One of the first scanners used to scan bar codes at the supermarket can now be found in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
In early 1994, Marsh introduced a card-based customer loyalty program called the Marsh Fresh IDEA (Instant Discounts Electronically Applied) Card in which discounts are sometimes based on the cardholder's buying habits and are issued immediately for current purchases or as coupons for future visits. The first print mention of this program was in the April 1994 issue of the Indianapolis Recorder and the program was rolled to other marketing areas by November of the same year. Alternate Link via NewspaperArchive.com. In conjunction with this program, Marsh became the first supermarket chain in the region to offer a co-branded Visa card the following year. The Marsh Fresh IDEA Card was also used for obtaining discounts at selected outside partners, such as the Indianapolis Zoo, Ambassadair Travel, and White River State Park.
In 1991, major changes came to Marsh Supermarkets. The company headquarters moved to a new location along Interstate 69 in Fishers, Indiana. Marsh also released a new plan to re-format the stores, known as the "Supermarket of the Future" campaign. This new format made Marsh Supermarket stores open 24 hours, seven days a week. Also, a full-service pharmacy was implemented, along with a "help-yourself" style food court which contained food items ranging from salads to sushi, as well as a bagel shop and espresso bar. In store banks were also installed, as well as Fielding's Playhouse for toddlers, a New York Style Pizzeria, and an ATA travel center.
As a regional supermarket chain, Marsh tried to support regional suppliers by stocking regional favorites, such as Indianapolis-based Roselyn Bakery, which some of the national chain competitors tend to ignore.
In December 1995, Marsh debuted its Marsh Fresh Express Home Delivery service, which allowed customers to order groceries via phone or fax for store pickup or home delivery. Online ordering was added later. Marsh discontinued the service in February 2003, citing increasing costs of the third-party software on which the service depended.
Marsh eliminated their smaller Central Indiana competitors by purchasing the eight-unit O'Malia's Food Markets chain in 2001, the two-store chain Carter's Supermarkets in 2001, and in two separate purchases, three Mr. D's Fresh Food Markets stores in 2003. The O'Malia stores were kept as a separate banner that specialized in the upscale food trade. The Mr. D's stores were converted to the O'Malia banner, while both Carter stores were closed.
Marsh made attempts to expand beyond their Indiana-Ohio market to other areas such as Chicago in 2005, but were driven out by larger competition in less than a year of operation there.
In February 2006, Marsh Supermarkets announced that they were ending its longtime sponsorship of the Indiana State Fair due to the company's financial problems. The sponsorship was $175,000 per year, and it included naming rights for the fair's Grandstand, Blue Ribbon Pavilion and Agriculture-Horticulture Building. The Marsh name remained on the Blue Ribbon Pavilion as late as 2015 when the Indiana State Fair was able to recruit Elements Financial as a new sponsor to replace Marsh.
Citing increased competition, Marsh announced on November 29, 2005, that it had engaged Merrill Lynch to investigate the possible sale of the company. In April 2006 the company signed a letter of intent to be purchased by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, a Florida-based investment firm that specializes in leveraged buyouts. The deal would allow Sun Capital to purchase all outstanding Marsh shares for $11.16 per share, for a total of approximately $88 million.
2006-2016: The Sun Capital years
On September 27, 2006, MSH Supermarkets, Inc., an affiliate of Sun Capital, completed the acquisition of Marsh Supermarkets, Inc. (Nasdaq: MARSA) (Nasdaq: MARSB) (Marsh) for a total purchase price of approximately $325 million (~$ in ). Marsh once again became a private company 53 years after it went public. Frank Lazaran was appointed president and CEO of Marsh, as a result of Don Marsh's previously announced resignation. At the time of acquisition, Marsh had operated 69 stores as Marsh supermarkets, 38 stores as LoBill Foods stores, eight stores as O'Malia Food Markets, 154 stores as Village Pantry convenience stores, and two stores as Arthur's Fresh Market stores in Indiana, Illinois and western Ohio. The company also operated Crystal Food Services; Primo Banquet Catering and Conference Centers; Floral Fashions; McNamara Florist and Enflora.
All non-core subsidiaries and excess real estate resulting from closing poorly performing stores were immediately sold off. In June 2007, Sun Capital Partners announced that they would be splitting Village Pantry Convenience Stores from Marsh. Village Pantry now reports directly to Sun Capital Partners. LoBill Foods stores were converted into Marsh Hometown Markets around the same time as the Village Pantry separation. Under Lazaran, Marsh replaced most of their well known Marsh store branded products with the higher profit but lesser known Food Club and Valu Time private label brands from Topco. Sun Capital attempted to sell Marsh in December 2009, but withdrew the offer 8 months later when they were unable to find a buyer. In August 2011, Sun Capital eliminated Marsh's warehouses and internal distribution system and replaced it with an outside third-party supplier.
In May 2011, Frank Lazaran departed as the Marsh President and CEO for family reasons. Sun Capital brought in Joe Kelley as the new president and CEO. Joe Kelley brought over 25 years of experience to Marsh from his past positions at Purity Supreme, A&P, Bozzuto's, Inc., Adams Hometown Markets and Price Chopper Supermarkets. Kelley left in May 2012 to become president of Stop & Shop's New England Division. Marsh COO Bill Holsworth was appointed as interim CEO as Sun Capital began conducting a nationwide search for a permanent CEO. The search ended in November, 2012, when Marsh named Thomas R. O’Boyle Jr. as the company's new chairman, president and chief executive officer. In May 2014, Marsh opened their first store since they were acquired by Sun Capital. During this time, Marsh began serving hot Noble Roman's branded pizzas at stores large enough to have in-store cafes.
In January 2014, the company announced that it was closing a total of eight stores by the end of the month in Indianapolis, Muncie, Speedway, and Franklin in Indiana and also in Franklin, Ohio. After the closings, there were 78 stores remaining in Indiana and Ohio.
Taking advantage of new wearable technology that some customers may have with them when they enter a Marsh store, Marsh had teamed up with inMarket in January 2015 to install iBeacons in all of its 75 stores to push interactive alerts and other content to Apple Watch users while the customer walk the aisles in their supermarkets.
In a move to counter similar services that were just beginning to be offered by Kroger and online competitors such as Peapod, Marsh began to offer home deliveries via the web in Indianapolis and other selected areas by teaming up with Instacart in August 2015.
In December 2015, Marsh announced plans to open 13 new stores by 2018 while updating 52 of the chain's 73 existing stores. Two months later, in February 2016, it was announced that Marsh was planning to return to Fort Wayne for the first time in a decade by building a new modern store on the site of a vacant out-dated retail building. At the time of the announcement, Marsh had 78 stores in Indiana and Ohio. Marsh withdrew from the project the following year without a comment.
In July 2016, Marsh replaced C&S with SuperValu as their primary supplier.
In October 2016, it was reported that Marsh was trying to sell its corporate headquarters building to get some quick cash by using a standard sale-and-leaseback procedure.
In December 2016, Marsh released their first iPhone and Android mobile apps that help customers obtain discounts while they shop. During the same month, Marsh removed Cosmopolitan magazine from checkout racks from all of their then 72 stores in Indiana and Ohio. Marsh had no comment for their action. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation applauded their new policy.
2017: A challenging year In January 2017, several news outlets had reported that Marsh was having trouble paying several landlords and contractors with the total amount owed exceeding $200 thousand.
In February 2017, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported that "private equity investors in Indianapolis suspect Sun already has made a tidy profit on Marsh, as a result of dividends and windfalls from selling real estate." At the same time, by under-investing in the supermarket chain, Sun Capital had made Marsh "too far gone" to attract a buyout offer from a competing chain.