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Could one of Georgia's biggest grocery store chains be looking to sell?
That's the question a lot of industry experts art asking lately about Publix Super Markets Inc., the metro area's secondlargest grocery store chain next to The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR). And with powerful California grocery chain Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) aggressively acquiring grocery chains on the East Coast, some experts say it could just be a matter of time before Publix sells.
"There's no question that Safeway wants to get into [the Southeast] market," said Mark Hunter, president of MJH & Associates, a consulting firm for the grocery retail industry. "And the rumor's out there, It's been out there for several years. But sooner or later, I think [Publix is] going to do something."
Getting out while going good
"We have a policy that we don't talk about acquisitions," said Lee Brunson, a Publix spokesperson at the company's Lakeland, Fla., headquarters. "No comment."
Neither Safeway nor Publix would say if either chain has been in talks in the past or is currently making overtures.
But there are signs within Publix that the founding Jenkins family may be interested in divesting its ownership of the company, experts say.
Control of the company has shifted recently, something experts on familyowned businesses say could be a warning sign of pending ownership change. Publix founder George Jenkins died in 1996, passing the reins of the company to his son, Howard M. Jenkins. In May, Howard Jenkins relinquished the CEO job to his cousin, Charles "Charlie" Jenkins Jr.
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