SCHNUCKS TAKEOVER OF DEL-FARM THOUGHT AS NEAR AS WEEKEND

When Del-Farm National closes its doors at 121 S. Sprigg, it will end one era and start a new one.

And, some Del-Farm National employees believe the changeover to a Schnucks store could be as soon as this weekend. They say Del-Farm could close Saturday and Schnucks open Monday.

But Schnucks spokeswoman Marie Casey said only that a date hasn't been established for the changeover, adding: "That is up to the Federal Trade Commission."

The FTC has to approve the sale of National Super Markets Inc. to Schnuck Markets Inc., headquartered in St. Louis. The FTC gave first-round approval to the Schnuck purchase plan in March and final action on the deal is expected soon.

Another indication the change will be soon is that Schnucks has applied for a permit for the South Sprigg site. The request was listed on the latest sheet of new business permits issued by the city's business license office.

But Schnuck officials refused to comment, saying they "can't talk about anything until everything is approved by the FTC."

Meanwhile, at Del-Farm National, the video center has closed, but the remainder of the store is well stocked with groceries, produce, meats and other items -- some of them National brands.

An assistant manager at Del-Farms, Joe Young, said he couldn't talk about the situation.

The purchase of 60 National Super Markets, 53 in metropolitan St. Louis and seven in other areas, including Cape Girardeau and Carbondale, Ill., was announced in mid-January.

As part of the same transaction, the assets of National's 29-store New Orleans Division is being acquired by Schwegmann's Giant Super Markets Inc., a New Orleans-based, family-owned chain of 18 supermarkets.

One of the conditions of the sale is that Schnuck must sell some National and Schnucks stores. But the company would still gain 26 new operations in the St. Louis area.

It will also gain one operation at Cape Girardeau.

Schnuck announced soon after the purchase agreement that it would keep the National Store and operate it as a Schnucks.

No other details concerning Schnucks operation in Cape Girardeau have been revealed.

Schnucks has hired 2,952 National Workers, the majority of them in the St. Louis metropolitan area, Casey said. More than 3,500 National workers applied for full- or part-time jobs, Casey said. But, as many as 2,000 National employees have not applied for jobs with Schnucks.

For Del-Farm National the changeover will end more than 30 years in the retail food industry at the same address.

What started at Sprigg and William as a 12,000-square-foot National Food Market in 1959, emerged into a 35,000-square-foot-plus supermarket.

By the late-1970s, National needed more room. Construction started on the present store in July 1977. The store was constructed north of the 22,000-square-foot store, with a 170-car parking lot built near the Sprigg/William intersection.

Over the years the Cape Girardeau National store has introduced some firsts among supermarkets.

In 1989, the new store became the first supermarket in the nation to introduce cholesterol-monitored eggs. The new eggs provided a 34 percent reduction in cholesterol as compared to the cholesterol in an average egg.

Later in that year National started its "Nutri-Wise" program, which used red, white and blue shelf tags to highlight foods low in calories, cholesterol, fat and sodium.