For instance, the Twin Cities area's largest grocery store retailer, Cub Foods, recently announced it was adding six new stores over the next year or two. And SuperTarget, the grocery-discount combination from Minneapolis-based Target, continues to grow in the Twin Cities.

Despite the fact that many of the national grocers such as Kroger's and Safeway have shied away from the Twin Cities market, United officials think that there's a possibility of another chain coming here. In addition, Super Wal-Mart is moving closer to the Twin Cities metropolitan area, with several of these stores in small towns just beyond the outer ring of the area.

Dallas-based Fleming Cos., which had filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code a year ago, recently sold its Rainbow Foods grocery store chain to Pewaukee, Wis.-based Roundy's.

Roundy's plans to make a significant investment in the stores, and that could in turn spur a revitalization of the neighborhood and community shopping centers which Rainbow is an anchor tenant, according to a new report by United Properties, a commercial real estate firm based in Bloomington, MN.

The 26-year-old Rainbow Foods was one of the first warehouse-style grocery chains in the country. But the chain had fallen to the No. 2 position in the Twin Cities with 36 stores behind the 44 stores owned by Cub Foods, owned by Minneapolis-based SuperValu.

Instant Insights /

Grocery Store Wars Heating Up in Twin Cities

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