Competition Drives E.W. James to Exit Lexington, Ky. Market
UNION CITY, Tenn. -- Family-owned regional chain E.W. James & Sons here is closing the last of its supermarkets in Lexington, Ky., just 28 months after it entered the market, according to a report in the Lexington Herald-Leader.
The retailer's store on Leestown Road will close Feb. 22 and will be reopened later by Kroger, Ken Pink, c.o.o. of E.W. James, told the newspaper. The company closed its other two Lexington stores last year.
Pink was quoted as saying that while the Leestown Road store was profitable, the company's advertising costs were disproportionate to the amount of business it had.
E.W. James entered Kentucky in 2004 via an acquisition of 10 former Winn-Dixie stores. Seven of the 10 former Winn-Dixies have been closed by E.W. James, leaving stores in Richmond, Elizabethtown, and Princeton, according to the report.
Pink cited the opening of Wal-Mart Supercenters near some of the former Winn-Dixies as being another hindrance to its success, particularly since the E.W. James brand was new to those areas.
E.W. James operates a store in Hickman, Va., where it was founded in 1934, as well as 22 stores in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
The retailer's store on Leestown Road will close Feb. 22 and will be reopened later by Kroger, Ken Pink, c.o.o. of E.W. James, told the newspaper. The company closed its other two Lexington stores last year.
Pink was quoted as saying that while the Leestown Road store was profitable, the company's advertising costs were disproportionate to the amount of business it had.
E.W. James entered Kentucky in 2004 via an acquisition of 10 former Winn-Dixie stores. Seven of the 10 former Winn-Dixies have been closed by E.W. James, leaving stores in Richmond, Elizabethtown, and Princeton, according to the report.
Pink cited the opening of Wal-Mart Supercenters near some of the former Winn-Dixies as being another hindrance to its success, particularly since the E.W. James brand was new to those areas.
E.W. James operates a store in Hickman, Va., where it was founded in 1934, as well as 22 stores in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi.