The Midwest Division of Peapod will close on February 18th according to a February 12th release by holding company Ahold Delhaize. The division serves customers in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana and closure will include a food plant in Lake Zurich, IL. and distribution facilities in Chicago, Milwaukee and Indianapolis. Approximately 500 jobs will be affected, but the holding company has indicated that employees will be offered alternative positions or severance and transition support will be extended.
According to Supermarket News the Midwest division generated close to $100 million of Ahold Delhaize U.S. Revenue. The decision was made to allow Peapod to focus on markets with strong density of store-location and regional market share. The holding company operates 2,000 stores on the East coast including Stop & Shop, Giant Food, Food Lion and Hannaford.
Peapod Digital Labs, a service-related subsidiary will be developing and deploying new technologies to rationalize delivery services including same-day and next-day delivery and expedite routing by integrating in-store and online purchases.
Peapod is a pioneer in home delivery and was established in 1989 becoming public in 1997. The company was inquired by Ahold USA in 2000.