Roundy's is a subsidiary of Kroger, which operates 145 supermarkets and 99 pharmacies throughout the states of Wisconsin and Illinois. Based on fiscal year 2012 sales, Roundy's was the 37th largest grocery store chain and the 89th largest retailer in the United States. As of December 2015, Roundy's became a subsidiary of Kroger of Cincinnati, Ohio. The stores of Roundy's mainly use that branding as a private label, with three front-facing brands and one former brand:
Metro Market, a smaller-store concept, launched in 2004, prevalent in the Milwaukee and Madison markets, mainly competing with Sendik's, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market.
Mariano's Fresh Market, the same concept as Metro Market in the Chicago market; named for former Roundy's CEO "Chairman" Bob Mariano. Mariano's was launched in 2010.
Copps Food Centers was a regional supermarket chain founded in Stevens Point, Wisconsin in 1892 mainly prevalent in north central and northeast Wisconsin. Copps was acquired by Roundy's in 2001. Several attempts were made to convert those stores to the Pick 'n Save name under Roundy's ownership, which were generally unsuccessful and scattered due to customer sentiment against the rebranding. Kroger finally completed the rebranding of Copps locations to Pick 'n Save in 2017.
The company was founded in 1872 in Milwaukee as Smith, Roundy & Co. by William E. Smith, Judson Roundy and Sidney Hauxhurst. Roundy's was a major warehouse distributor to non-company supermarkets, including IGA, but it moved out of the wholesale market to focus on retail. Roundy's was taken private in 2002 through purchase by the Chicago private-equity firm Willis Stein & Partners. A strong effort was made in 2007 to sell Roundy's, but because of softness in the credit markets, there were no takers. Roundy's took the company public via an initial public offering in 2012, posting an initial share price of $8.50 per share. Beginning in 2002, the CEO of the corporation was Robert "Chairman Bob" Mariano, who had been the CEO of Dominick's prior to Dominick's sale to Safeway in 1998. On December 2, 2013, Roundy's and Mariano announced it would purchase 11 Dominick's stores to rebrand them as Mariano's, after Safeway finished closing the chain early in 2014. On November 11, 2015, Roundy's announced its sale to the Kroger, a deal valued at $800 million including debt, which was completed on December 18, 2015. Following completion of the sale, Roundy's retained its headquarters in Milwaukee. It was suggested that Kroger primarily was interested in the Mariano's division, as Kroger had not been active in the Chicago market, and normally the company isn't interested in acquiring chains in financial difficulty—the Roundy's divisions in Wisconsin had been in decline. The sale of Roundy's to Cincinnati-based Kroger, about two years after Safeway shut down its Chicago-based Dominick's supermarket chain, selling many of the stores to other operators, was a matter discussed in the regional business press. CEO Bob Mariano retired on September 1, 2016.
