Kellogg’s Sold, Steelcase Bought, SpartanNash Merging – What’s Happening?

Keeping up with the news these days is a depressing cycle, it seems now more than ever. When it comes to the economy, you hear talk of a potential recession on the horizon, and if you were playing a drinking game every time you listened to the word "inflation", you'd be in the hospital by 10 am.

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But in a short time, a couple of Michigan's iconic businesses have made waves in the news cycle after being announced that they were bought, merging, or shutting down. One of these businesses is on the Fortune 500 list. Here is what you need to know about Steelcase, Kellogg's, SpartanNash, and Utz Brands. 

Steelcase Bought By Rival

Two days ago, news broke that Grand Rapids-based furniture company Steelcase was being bought for a whopping $2.2 billion by HNI in a cash-and-stock deal. HNI's Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Jeffery Lorenger, says HNI is aiming to capitalize on trends of many businesses returning to in-office work.

Both companies create workplace furniture, and their combined sales are expected to have an annual revenue of $5.8 billion. Despite HNI being based in Iowa, Steelcase will remain at its headquarters in Grand Rapids. The sale is expected to close by the end of 2025.

READ MORE: JCPenney Sells Six Michigan Stores Including Rivertown Crossings

Kellogg's Goes Italian

WK Kellogg Co. was created in Battle Creek over 120 years ago, making it one of Michigan's most successful businesses. It's iconic lineup of breakfast cereals like Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, and more. It appeared on the Fortune 500 list in 2024, which is why the announcement that Italian chocolate company Ferrero was purchasing it for nearly $3.1 billion came as a total surprise to many.

The transaction is expected to wrap up by the end of this year, with the Battle Creek headquarters set to be Ferrero's headquarters for North American cereal, though how things will change internally isn't known. Ferrero is known for chocolate products like Nutella, Kinder, and more.

SpartanNash Merging With C&S Wholesale Grocers

SpartanNash, headquartered in Byron Center and one of Michigan's largest employers with over 20,000 employees, announced at the end of June that it was entering a merger agreement with C&S Wholesale Grocers for nearly $2 billion in cash. C&S Wholesale Grocers delivers food to communities and wholesale grocery stores around the country, recently purchasing the Piggly Wiggly brand.

Both C&S and SpartanNash operate on a People First work culture and want to help as many people get healthy food as efficiently as possible. This merger makes this goal more feasible.

Utz Closing Grand Rapids Snack Plant

Utz Brands, the manufacturer of On The Border chips, Utz chips and snacks, Zapp's potato chips, Hawaiian Brand, and more, has announced that Grand Rapids will be one of two plants around the country that will be shut down by 2026 as part of company-wide cost-cutting.

Festida Foods previously owned the plant before Utz Brands acquired it in 2021, which employed 160 people at the time, but it is unknown how many currently work there. Employees will receive severance pay, among other assistance, as needed.

It's been a turbulent market around Grand Rapids as a whole, extending into the restaurant business. Check out these recent closures.