Similar setup to Publix in the southeastern US or Woodman's in the upper midwest. I'm actually surprised at how many successful grocery chains are employee owned.

quote:
Hi Nabor sibling owners sell company to employees in an ESOP

Baton Rouge Business Report

The nine siblings that own the Hi Nabor supermarket chain founded in 1963 by their father, the late Sam Crifasi, have sold the business to their employees through an employee stock ownership plan.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed but some 190 full-time employees will be eligible to participate in the ESOP, which will own 100% of the company.

Hi Nabor has three locations in Baton Rouge and estimated revenues in excess of $40 million.

Employees were notified of the deal at a company gathering Sunday afternoon.

An ESOP is a qualified retirement plan, similar to a 401(k), that can be used as a business succession tool and as an employee ownership vehicle to provide employees with an ownership stake in the company. The ESOP buys, holds and sells company stock through a trust, providing employees with a retirement plan benefit and an additional form of compensation.

Hi Nabor CEO Jim Crifasi says the company’s leadership team has been engaged in succession planning for the past several years and initially thought the idea of an ESOP was “crazy.” But the more they learned about the plans, the more sense it made for the company’s future.

“It keeps our management team together and gives all my brothers and sisters an exit strategy without putting a strain on Hi Nabor,” Crifasi says. “The ones who want to continue working here in their same position will be able to. It’s also a great deal for our employees and will continue the legacy my father set up in 1963.”

ESOPs also have inherent tax advantages, according to Jason Wellman, director of ownership culture at ESOP Partners, the Wisconsin firm that will serve as third-party administrator for the Hi Nabor plan.

Wonder if the newer leadership will be more interested in expansion into Livingston, Ascension, etc. Hi Nabor has been a Baton Rouge landmark for a very long time, and I think they've been a member store of AG for decades. The Windborne Avenue store is their oldest (opened 1963) and largest; Jones Creek (opened 1992) is likely their busiest. I think their latest store was one of the first retailers to move back into Broadmoor shopping center when it was redeveloped (2014). I haven't been to that one but it looks very nice.

The spelling of their store name annoyed me; but I've always found their Jones Creek store to be convenient and well laid out.

Baton Rouge, and south Louisiana in general, has a wide variety of independently owned and operated grocery stores like Dorignac's, Calandros, Rouses, Hi Nabor, Oak Point, Matherne's, and Alexanders. I hope that continues after Amazon opens a bunch of Amazon Fresh locations all over the place.

I wish they were all a little more aggressive with expansion. Rouses is the only one that seems to be hell bent on competing with Wal Mart, Target, and Amazon.