SmartCo Foods to Close Five Colorado Stores

• Sales failed to reach levels required for continued operations
• Company to provide severance and other benefits to all laid-off employees
• Store closing sales to offer shoppers extreme values in time for the holidays

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SmartCo Foods today announced that it will close all five of its Colorado stores over the next month due to disappointing sales that fell below the company’s expectations.

“Despite our best efforts, the level of sales achieved in the SmartCo Foods stores after several months did not meet our goals and is not sufficient to sustain continued operations”

SmartCo Foods was developed as a new value-focused grocery store for the Denver area, blending the best features of a local supermarket, warehouse club store and farmer’s market in one, convenient location.

“Despite our best efforts, the level of sales achieved in the SmartCo Foods stores after several months did not meet our goals and is not sufficient to sustain continued operations,” said Dave Hirz, president of Smart & Final Stores LLC, the parent company of SmartCo Foods. “We are grateful to all our associates who helped open and operate our stores, and are committed to doing all we can to support them through this difficult time.”

On Wednesday, all five SmartCo Foods stores will begin store closing sales that company executives expect to last approximately four weeks. According to Hirz, the closing sales will offer shoppers extreme values in time for the holidays.

To support the store closing sales, many SmartCo Foods associates will continue their employment. All SmartCo Foods employees will be offered severance packages at the conclusion of their store closing employment. Smart & Final encourages all associates willing to relocate to open positions in its other western states to apply for available positions.

“While we regret having to close these stores and the impact this will have on our Colorado employees and customers, we remain committed to the SmartCo Foods concept and will open stores under the SmartCo Foods banner in other markets where we believe the concept will be successful. The first of these will open later this week in Lake Forest, Calif.,” Hirz said.

About SmartCo Foods

SmartCo Foods opened five Colorado stores in the summer of 2010. Its parent company, privately-owned Smart & Final, has been serving the West with quality discount groceries and perishables for nearly 140 years and currently operates over 280 stores under the Smart & Final, Cash & Carry Smart Foodservice, Henry’s Farmers Market and Sun Harvest Markets banners. For more information, please visit www.smartcofoods.com.