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Festival Foods and Hometown Grocers operate 51 stores throughout Wisconsin, including in Janesville.

The new group will be known as 1939 Group, Inc. Festival Foods stores in Janesville, Fort Atkinson and Madison, and Lake Mills Market in Lake Mills, would be part of the new group.

According to a release issued by Schnucks Tuesday, it expects to close the sale in late October.

According to the release, Schnucks, Festival Foods and Hometown Grocers will maintain their existing corporate headquarters and operate as separate sister companies with “shared support by the 1939 Group.”

The purchase includes shares held by Mark Skogen, the outgoing CEO of Festival Foods and Hometown Grocers, and shares in the trust held by associates in their employee stock ownership plan.

{p class=”p1”}”Our family is honored to be entrusted with the Skogen family legacy, one that began serving Wisconsin communities in 1946 and continued for decades under the leadership of Dave and Barb, and later under Mark as CEO,” Schnucks CEO and Chairman Todd Schnuck said in the release. Schnuck said Schnucks, Festival Foods and Hometown Grocers “share a strikingly similar set of core values” that trace success to decades of focusing on communities they serve.

{p class=”p1”}Skogen said in the release that it has been a privilege to serve Wisconsin communities and to “continue the legacy my grandparents began” in 1946.

{p class=”p1”}”Our focus has always been on treating every customer like a guest, supporting the growth of our associates who make that experience possible and giving back to the communities we serve,” Skogen said.

A media contact for Schnucks was not immediately available for comment.