Food City Acquires Family of Tennessee Stores

Southern grocery chain Food City is planning to further expand its reach in Tennessee by acquiring the Cooke’s family of stores.

First covered by Store Brands’ sister publication Progressive Grocer, the acquisition by the Topco Associates member chain of the greater Cleveland, Tenn.-based stores will include five Fresh n’ Low locations, as well as the Cooke’s Food Store & Pharmacy. Cooke’s is a family-owned and operated chain founded in 1936. 

Food City said that it intends to retain the Cooke’s/Fresh n’ Low name and operate both formats in a similar fashion for the immediate future while retaining the vast majority of the store’s associates.

“We’re extremely excited to add the Cooke’s family of stores to our existing Food City locations, which have served the Cleveland community for many years,” said Steven C. Smith, Food City President and CEO. “We plan to make some large investments in the greater Cleveland area to ensure the future success of our new teammates.”

The acquired locations are as follows:

• Fresh n’ Low, 3870 Candies Creek Lane NW, Cleveland, Tenn.
• Fresh n’ Low, 2010 Broomfield Road SE, Cleveland, Tenn.
• Fresh n’ Low, 99 Highway 286, Eton, Ga.
• Fresh n’ Low, 101 State Highway 58 South, Georgetown, Tenn.
• Fresh n’ Low, 116 Whitewater Drive, Ocoee, Tenn.
• Cooke’s Food Store & Pharmacy, 3400 Keith Street NW, Cleveland, Tenn.

“On behalf of the entire family, we thank the Cleveland community, our customers and our employees for your loyalty and support," said Dan Cooke, CEO of the Cooke family of stores. "It has been a privilege to serve you for the past 86 years. We are grateful that our employees will have the opportunity to continue our commitment to the community.”

The acquisition follows Food City’s recently expanded operations in Tennessee with a new store in East Ridge. Last month, the grocer expanded its partnership with DoorDash to include on-demand grocery delivery in 117 stores across its five state operating region.

Food City’s parent company, Abingdon, Va.-based K-VA-T Food Stores, operates 140 retail outlets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, north Georgia and Alabama.