Topics / BUSINESS : Gourmet Food Chain to Expand

Bristol Farms Gourmet Specialty Food Markets will be acquired by an investment group as part of a plan to expand the chain, which is now in three upscale cities including South Pasadena.

Kidd, Kamm & Co. Inc., a Beverly Hills investment company, is buying the Torrance-based gourmet food market, according to Irv Gronsky, owner and president. Company officials declined to reveal any financial arrangements but did say the sale is in escrow.

Since 1982, when Gronsky founded the first Bristol Farms in Rolling Hills Estates, it has become one of the Southland’s most successful upscale food retailers, generating just over $50 million in sales annually. Its South Pasadena store, which opened in 1985, is now one of that city’s largest generators of taxes.

The change in ownership is part of a plan to finance new Bristol Farms markets across the Southland, said Louis A. Kwiker, a retail consultant for the investment group and former president and chief executive of Wherehouse Inc. He will take over as chief executive officer and chairman.

Kwiker approached Gronsky about the purchase, company officials said.

Gronsky will continue to participate in company operations for at least four years as vice chairman, and other management personnel will remain, Bristol Farms officials said.