CBRE Brokers Sale of 13-Property Grocery Store Portfolio Across Arkansas and Missouri for $30 Million

Springdale, AR – March 1, 2021 – CBRE has arranged a sale-leaseback of 13 free-standing grocery stores leased to Harp’s Foods Stores, Inc. (Harps) totaling 459,525 sq. ft. of space. Harps sold the portfolio to New Jersey-based Essential Properties for $30,100,730. The stores sold are located in Arkansas and Missouri. All 13 properties were sold subject to new, long-term net leases with Harps and will continue to operate under Harps-operated brands, including Harps Food Stores and 10Box. The sale will not affect store operations in any way.

Will Lightfoot and Jason Little with CBRE in Oklahoma City and David Erstine and Hunter Groce with CBRE in Fayetteville represented the seller in the transaction. Since 2015, CBRE has assisted Harps in sale-leaseback transactions totaling $110 million.

“Over the years, we have worked with Harps on several sale-leaseback transactions and have deep respect for the company’s business model and tenured leadership team,” said Will Lightfoot, senior vice president with CBRE’s Oklahoma City office. “It may seem counterintuitive, but we are in the middle of a historically strong capital markets cycle, and Harps could not have chosen a better year to bring this latest group of properties to market.”    

“Harps is employee-owned, and we manage our balance sheet to maximize value for our shareholder-employees,” said J. Max Van Hoose, Executive Vice President at Harp’s Food Stores, Inc. “Working alongside CBRE, the sale-leaseback transaction has been a very effective tool to unlock capital for more efficient uses including store expansion, as well as to secure long-term, low occupancy costs, which leads to higher profitability.”

“We’re very excited we were able to leverage CBRE’s network and global investment platform to produce an optimal outcome for Harps and its employees,” said David Erstine, first vice president with CBRE in Fayetteville.

Harp’s Food Stores, Inc., based in Springdale, Arkansas, is a chain of 113 supermarkets located across Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas. In 2001, the company did a leveraged buy-out with the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) purchasing outstanding stock from the family and management. Harps is the largest employee-owned company headquartered in Arkansas and the 20th largest in the United States.