VLGEA · CIK 0000103595
What Village Super Market, Inc. told the SEC could break it.
Village Super Market's disclosures center on a few tightly bound dependencies. It buys substantially all of its merchandise through the Wakefern cooperative, of which it is a member-stockholder, leaving it heavily reliant on a single supplier for inventory, its ShopRite and Fairway branding and patronage dividends. Its stores are concentrated in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, so regional downturns there could hit results, and as a unionized grocer it participates in multi-employer pension plans whose required contributions can rise materially with collective bargaining, other employers' withdrawals and plan asset returns.
3 self-disclosed vulnerabilities, pulled from its own filings, each in the company’s words, with the source. This is the risk register almost nobody reads.
In its own words
What could break it.
Geographic concentration
- New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Marylandmedium
Stores are concentrated in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, leaving results vulnerable to regional economic downturns on top of national conditions.
“The Company's stores are concentrated in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. We are vulnerable to economic downturns in these states in addition to those that may affect the country as a whole.”
SEC filing →As of 2025
Other disclosures
- multi-employer pension plan contribution/withdrawal exposuremedium
Village participates in union multi-employer pension plans; required contributions can rise materially based on collective bargaining, trustee actions, regulation, other employers' withdrawals and plan asset returns.
“The amount of any increase or decrease in our required contributions to these multi-employer pension plans will depend upon the outcome of collective bargaining, actions taken by trustees who manage the plans, government regulations, withdrawals by other participating employers and the actual return on assets held in the plans, among other factors.”
SEC filing →As of 2025
Supplier concentration
- Wakefern cooperative — substantially all merchandiselow
Village is a member-stockholder of the Wakefern cooperative and purchases substantially all of its merchandise through Wakefern, creating heavy dependence on a single supplier/cooperative for inventory, branding (ShopRite/Fairway) and patronage dividends.
“Wakefern distributes as a "patronage dividend" to each of its stockholders a share of substantially all of its earnings in proportion to the dollar volume of purchases by the stockholder from Wakefern during each fiscal year.”
SEC filing →As of 2025
The hidden graph
Who it depends on, and who depends on it.
Relationships surfaced from filings, including ones disclosed by the other side, which is how the non-obvious ones come to light.
Its suppliers
Wakefern Food Corporation
“Wakefern distributes as a "patronage dividend" to each of its stockholders a share of substantially all of its earnings in proportion to the dollar volume of purchases by the stockholder from Wakefern during each fiscal year.”
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