Remke Markets Sold To Ohio Company; Stores Will Stay Open

By Mike Perleberg (Erlanger, Ky.) - Family-owned since William Remke opened his first grocery store in Covington in 1897, Erlanger-based Remke Markets is now under new ownership. The small grocery chain operates 10 supermarkets in the Greater Cincinnati area, including Harrison, Hebron and Florence. On Friday, Remke president Matthew Remke announced that Fresh Encounter, Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to manage Remke Markets, Inc. on behalf of Generative Growth, LLC, a privately held company based in Findlay, Ohio. “Fresh Encounter is a pro-associate environment with a strong focus on engagement in the local communities they serve and providing genuine customer satisfaction, philosophies that align well with those of Remke Markets,” a letter to customers stated. “This change will allow us to continue to deliver on our promise of a local, neighborhood grocery with exceptional service in convenient locations, as well as to preserve valuable employment for our dedicated associates. Operations of our 10 store locations in Ohio and Kentucky will continue.” The company shared that Bill Remke will retire after 60 years of service with the store. Remke purchased seven biggs supermarket locations including Harrison in 2010. In 2013, Remke dropped the biggs name from those stores. It has closed three of the former biggs locations since 2015.