Comments on: All Belle Foods Stores Up For Sale

By: John

John — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 14:17:09 +0000

I started with Brunos 25 years ago and at that time it was a great place to work,but after the plane crash things started to go bad. Now after three defferent owners things started going down and with Rouses not getting shipments and Belle foods filling things do not look good. It was fun.

By: Betsey

Betsey — Sun, 28 Jul 2013 01:01:54 +0000

I’m in agreement with CW & gooddeal. I would love for Kroger to buy them. The locations were good but at least one in particular was very poorly managed.

By: southernman

southernman — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 22:41:57 +0000

There is nothing wrong with all the stores.It just the way they are managed.Locations is not the problem….

By: gooddeal

gooddeal — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 01:50:58 +0000

That would be very cool if Kroger would take them or even Publix

By: leila Pouncey

leila Pouncey — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 23:22:52 +0000

mnon is absolutely correct. Bruno’s was a holding of Ahold USA in conjunction with Bi-Lo, then sold to C&S through Lone Star Investments, and C&S split them into Southern Family Markets, and Piggly Wigglys in areas where they would not violate franchise agreements. The stores could not buy from Piggly Wiggly warehouses, though, due to licensing agreements and sales agreement with the Bruno’s warehouse in Birmingham, so they could not sell the Piggly Wiggly generic brands. C&S was selling the stores to the White family, and C&S was financing them. Now C&S again holds the reins as the primary creditor, and the White’s can bid to buy them back from the bankruptcy court. Does anyone else see anything wrong with this picture? Yes, the basic operating model is flawed, which is why I left the company 7 years ago, after sticking it out for 11 years. There are some long-term, very knowledgeable employees at store level, but the Birmingham, Alabama offices need to be gutted, and those salaries can be channeled back into the stores and the equipment.

By: CW

CW — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 18:14:22 +0000

I wish Kroger would buy them.

By: greylady

greylady — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 12:58:18 +0000

After all this is over, the White brothers and C&S will probably get a huge tax break, the employees will lose seniority, take a reduction in pay, hours, and benefits, with the White brothers and C&S owners laughing all the way to their offshore accounts as they fly there in their private jets.

By: mnon

mnon — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 12:20:58 +0000

So they are selling them off… What’s up with this grocery location? Was it owned by the same company before and turned into a Belle Foods? Just trying to understand why this location or franchise has had so many issues while our tried and true Piggly Wiggly and Winn Dixie are still kicking. Seems to me the next grocery owner should look into their business model.