Retail Marketing Group, the Horsham, PA-based advertising and marketing group, recently added two members to its group of independent retailers, effective next month. Joining the RMG network are Kennie’s Marketplace, with four stores in Pennsylvania and one in Maryland, and Supermarkets Plus IGA, a new from-the-ground-up-store (and format) in Elizabeth, NJ that is scheduled to open in early May.
With the new additions, RMG will be comprised of 19 member-owners operating 25 retail stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. RMG was founded in December 2000 with the goal and directive to take complete control of the promotional and marketing functions of their business and represent the total volume of the group to the trade.
In the beginning, Fleming served as the group’s wholesaler, primarily utilizing the Thriftway and Shop ‘n Bag banners. When Fleming went bankrupt in 2003, White Rose emerged as RMG’s primary supplier. Robesonia, PA-based AWI acquired White Rose in 2006 and when AWI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2014 it was purchased by C& S Wholesale Grocers. In the summer of 2016, RMG moved to Bozzuto’s. Later that year, RMG’s members egan flying the IGA banner on their stores. Bozzuto’s will continue to supply Kennie’s and has added Supermarkets Plus as a new customer.
Kennie’s five stores – in Spring Grove, Gettysburg, Biglerville and Littlestown, PA as well as Taneytown, MD – range from 18,000 to 38,000 square feet. Since January 2016, they are 100 percent owned by the company’s employees. P.K Hoover serves as Kennie’s president. The independent retailer was founded by his father, Paul Hoover, in the early 1960s.
The Supermarkets Plus IGA location in Elizabeth, NJ, owned by Nasser Nasser and Frank Manzo, is 25,000 square feet in size and will feature a Hometown Pharmacy, a large hardware-related area and an expanded pet food department
Nasser has been in the grocery business his entire life, working for Pathmark, owning 7-Eleven convenience stores and operating independent stores as a member of Key Food. Manzo, who is based in the Chicago-area, has experience in the industry as a former retailer and investor.
Later this year, the duo plan to open two other Supermarket Plus stores in locations in New Jersey that once housed an A&P and a Pathmark. The former Pathmark store in Middlesex, NJ and the former A&P unit in Belvidere, NJ were leased from the landlords of those two sites after the A&P bankruptcy auction of late 2015. Nasser and Manzo are reportedly reviewing other former unoccupied A&P locations as well.
Said Bill Gable, general manager of RMG, in announcing the new members of the group: “Kennie’s Markets have achieved an excellent reputation for quality and service in the South Central Pennsylvania and Maryland marketing area. Supermarkets Plus IGA will serve the Elizabeth, NJ community well. Both retailers will be full participants in the RMG promotional programs. The five Kennie’s Markets and the Supermarkets Plus IGA are currently serviced by Bozzuto’s Inc. for all wholesale product categories, so this will be a smooth transition to RMG with very little disruption of normal operations.”
