Shaw’s Supermarkets is cutting 60 jobs

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Shaw’s Supermarkets confirmed that it is cutting about 60 mostly administrative jobs throughout New England as part of a larger workforce reduction by its corporate parent.

In an e-mail, a Shaw’s spokesman said that the cuts represent 0.3 percent of the West Bridgewater-based chain’s workforce of about 21,000 employees. The cuts do not affect “store-level associates,” he said. Shaw’s, which also operates stores under the Star Market nameplate, has 169 stores.

Shaw’s is owned by Supervalu Inc., a Minnesota-based company that operates several grocery chains and pharmacies across the country. Supervalu has annual sales of about $37 billion. Besides Shaw’s/Star Market, Supervalu owns such chains as Acme, Albertsons, Jewel-Osco, and Shop ‘N Save.

Yesterday Supervalu disclosed plans to reduce its national workforce by an estimated 800 positions. A majority of these reductions will take place by the close of the company’s fiscal year on Feb 25. The reductions include both current positions and open jobs that will not be filled.

The cuts are part of an effort to remove permanent expenses from Supervalu’s business as well as reduce overall operating cost.

Such efforts are “necessary in helping the company achieve its plan to deliver more competitive pricing to its customers,” Supervalu said in a press release.