QSI Inc., the parent company of Times Supermarkets, will purchase Star Markets' seven locations, including stores on Maui in Kihei and Honokowai.
The financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in early September.
Times, founded in 1949, has not previously operated on the Neighbor Islands. With the addition of the Star locations, it will have 17 stores on three islands, and its work force will grow from 1,100 to 1,600.
"This is a huge step for our business and will be good for consumers," said John Quinn, president of QSI. "Today, we are combining two longtime kamaaina companies to create a powerful new brand in the local grocery industry."
The Fujieki family, which opened Star Markets in 1927, decided earlier this year to leave the grocery business.
"Our employees and customers are very important to us. The agreement to sell our business to Times will ensure that those loyal employees and customers, who have put their trust in us for over 70 years, will still have a place to go for their daily shopping," said Karl Wissmann, president of Star Markets.
Times' senior director of store operations, Bob Stout, said the Star locations will be rebranded as Times Supermarkets, but he said it will be business as usual for employees and consumers.
"We . . . will honor all seniority and labor agreements already in place with Star employees," he said.
Times Supermarkets was established on Oahu in 1949 by Albert and Wallace Teruya, sons of Okinawan immigrants, to serve Hawaii's plantation communities.
Today, it has 12 full-service supermarket and pharmacy locations on Oahu, plus two wine and specialty foods shops, Fujioka's Wine Times and Shima's Market in Waimanalo.
Tsuenjiro and Mika Fujieki founded Star Markets in 1927 in Kakaako, Oahu. The company has 540 employees and operates seven grocery stores, four on Oahu, two on Maui and one on Kauai.
* Harry Eagar can be reached at heagar@mauinews.com.
