Marsh Supermarkets
Marsh Supermarkets is a retail food chain headquartered in
Indianapolis,
Indiana, with stores throughout Indiana and parts of Ohio. Founded in 1931 in
Muncie, the company went public in 1953 and has since grown to 69 locations. Marsh also owns and operates 37 LoBill Foods stores, 8 O'Malia's Food Markets, 162 Village Pantry
convenience stores, 1 Arthur's Fresh Market and 1 Savin*$ store. Marsh also operates Crystal Food Services, Primo Banquet Catering and Conference Centers, Floral Fashions, McNamara Florist and Enflora Flowers for Business.
One of Marsh's most distinguishing features has been 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 barcode scanner.
Citing recent losses and 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 $11.13 per share, for a total of approximately $88 million. [
1]
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Marsh website
