Smart And Final Iris Corp

It was a grocery that grew along with Southern California, opening in 1871 as a small store on Los Angeles Street, finding new owners named Mr. Smart and Mr. Final and expanding into a chain of small warehouse-style stores. Now Smart & Final Inc. is changing again. The company said Tuesday that it had agreed to be acquired by New York private equity firm Apollo Management in the latest wave of money to flow into Southern California supermarkets.

Smart & Final Inc., the City of Commerce-based operator of 250 warehouse grocery stores in the Western U.S., said late Sunday that it would hire advisors and review its options as its largest shareholder plans to sell assets. The company, founded in downtown Los Angeles in 1871, said majority shareholder Casino Guichard-Perrachon of France planned to sell "a significant portion of its non-core assets" by the end of 2007.

Warehouse food retailer Smart & Final Inc. is test marketing a new product -- itself. The City of Commerce-based chain said Monday that it planned to hire legal and financial advisors to help it determine "strategic alternatives," Wall Street-speak that usually means selling the company. Analysts say the 250-store chain has been hampered by a majority shareholder that has shown little interest in the business but a sale could position Smart & Final for significant growth.

Smart & Final Inc., which operates 250 food warehouses in California, other Western states and Mexico, said second-quarter profit sank 29% as higher operating costs outweighed modest sales growth. Net income declined to $5.8 million, or 18 cents a share, from $8.1 million, or 25 cents, a year earlier. The City of Commerce-based company said a strategic review resulted in a charge of 2 cents a share. Sales rose 2% to $493.7 million.

Warehouse grocer Smart & Final Inc. said third-quarter sales rose 6%, helped by its store growth program. The City of Commerce-based company said income from continuing operations was $7.5 million for the quarter, or 23 cents a share, compared with $1 million, or 3 cents, a year earlier. Quarterly sales rose to $672.6 million from $634.4 million a year earlier. Same-store sales, an important measure of a retailer's financial health, rose by 3.8%.

Warehouse supermarket chain Smart & Final Inc. reported first-quarter profit dropped sharply year-over-year, as sales were weakened by record rainfall in the company's key Southern California region. Net income fell to $3.2 million, or 11 cents a share, from $6.2 million, or 22 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 1% to $427.6 million from $423.5 million, said the City of Commerce-based company.

Warehouse grocer Smart & Final Inc. said Wednesday that it agreed to settle an overtime pay lawsuit filed by California employees and would therefore take a $19-million pretax charge against third-quarter earnings. Lawyers for the workers said the company would pay $22 million under the settlement. The class-action suit on behalf of 13,000 current and former hourly employees alleged that the retailer did not properly calculate pay for overtime or for rest and meal breaks for six years.

Commerce-based grocery company Smart & Final Inc. reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $6.2 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with $163,000, or 2 cents, a year earlier. The results included the effects of discontinued operations. Sales surged 19% to $423.5 million for the period ended March 21. The company credited the increase in part to the strike-lockout at the three major supermarket chains that sent shoppers to other markets, including Smart & Final.

Smart & Final Inc. said Monday that its third-quarter profit soared as the warehouse retailer divested itself of its struggling food service operations. Los Angeles-based Smart & Final said net income increased to $11.7 million, or 36 cents a share, for the quarter ended Oct. 3, up from $916,000, or 3 cents, a year earlier. Sales at the 231-store chain increased 12% to $603.2 million from $538.4 million last year.