United Acquires Llano Logistics

United Supermarkets, LLC has finalized the acquisition of Llano Logistics as of May 31. The company has operated United’s two distribution centers – in Lubbock and Roanoke – since its opening.

Llano, which had been owned by Exel, Inc., a subsidiary of Deutsche Post DHL, is now owned by United, and the approximately 300 Llano employees are now members of the United Supermarkets team.

“Llano will maintain a separate corporate structure, but this transaction allows us to closely align with and support the Llano team now and in the future,” said Chris St. Clair, the Texas-based grocer's EVP for Information and Logistics.

Scott Mullins, previously general manager for Llano, becomes VP of Llano Logistics and will continue to oversee the entire Llano team. Mike Lemons will serve as general manager of the Alliance Distribution Center (DC) in Roanoke, while Carlos Mendoza will serve as general manager of the Lubbock DC.

“This move provides additional synergy for our organization,” St. Clair added. “There are significant cost savings and significant operational efficiencies that we gain through this acquisition. Most importantly, we also gain dedicated team members who have been with Llano since the beginning and who have worked to support United exclusively.”

The Lubbock DC, a facility of nearly 500,000 square feet, came online in June 2000. In 2010, the company added the Roanoke DC, a 200,000-square-foot facility with a primary focus of supplying United’s stores in and near the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Each location has been managed by the Llano Logistics team from the beginning.

This is the company’s third subsidiary operation in addition to its 52-store supermarket and convenience store chain. United purchased R.C. Taylor Distributing in 2007 and added Praters Foods in 2009.

United Supermarkets operates 52 stores under four distinct formats: United Supermarkets, Market Street, Amigos and United Express.