Urm Pays Big Dividend To Members
URM Stores Inc., Spokane’s largest grocery wholesale distributor, has returned $17.1 million in patronage refunds to 100 grocery store operators who own the company.
The money is a refund to the retail stores who bought URM groceries and produce, or used the company’s consulting and financial services during its fiscal year ended Aug. 3, 1996. The previous year’s refund was $16.2 million.
“We received tremendous support from our member-owners and our customer base during the last fiscal year,” said Chief Executive Officer Steve Herbison, releasing URM financial results for the first time in five years. “A good portion of our expansion in the current fiscal year we expect to be from new accounts.”
URM’s annual report showed that the company enjoyed one of its best years in its 75-year history. Sales jumped 6.7 percent, profits dipped slightly and members’ equity grew 14 percent. The figures, however, were boosted by a 53-week fiscal year, meaning URM got to count an extra week of revenue.
The privately-held company distributes groceries and produce to 175 supermarkets and 1,500 hotels, restaurants, schools and convenience stores in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon.
Members range in size from Rosauers Supermarkets chain to the Confederated Tribes’ Benewah Market in Plummer.
Competitors Albertsons and Safeway operate their own distribution centers in Portland and Seattle, respectively. Tidyman’s buys its groceries from Supervalu, a wholesale distributor in the Valley.
URM’s headquarters and its massive 590,000-square-foot distribution center are located at 7511 N. Freya Street, north of Hillyard. The company employs 574 people.
URM reported $2.39 million in after-tax operating income on record sales of $492.9 million for fiscal 1996. That compared with operating income of $2.4 million on sales of $462 million for the fiscal year ended July 29, 1995.
However, members’ equity in URM increased from $35 million to $39.1 million because of a reduction in member stock requirements and a deferred gain from the 1990 sale of Rosauers Supermarkets. The company has $37 million in current and long-term debt, the report said.
During fiscal 1996, URM provided $3.4 million toward construction of a new Yoke’s Pac ‘n’ Save store in Deer Park and a replacement supermarket on Indian Trail Road in North Spokane. The financing was part of a 1995 agreement to acquire 27.5 percent of Yoke’s in exchange for $5 million investment and a $5 million bank loan to the grocery chain.
Herbison said that URM in the coming year will focus on reducing operating expenses and assisting member stores in tapping the growing trend among consumers to purchase prepared foods in the deli, meat and bakery departments. The company anticipates no cuts in its work force, he said.
, DataTimes