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Commitments and Contingencies
12 Months Ended
Jan. 01, 2022
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies

Note 8 – Commitments and Contingencies

The Company is engaged from time-to-time in routine legal proceedings incidental to its business. The Company does not believe that these routine legal proceedings, taken as a whole, will have a material impact on its business or financial condition. While the ultimate effect of such actions cannot be predicted with certainty, management believes that their outcome will not result in an adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position, operating results or liquidity.

The Company subleases property at certain locations and for 2021, 2020 and 2019, received rental income of $4.4 million, $4.0 million and $4.0 million, respectively. In the event of customer default, the Company would be responsible for fulfilling these lease obligations. Future payment obligations under these leases are disclosed in Note 9. Contingencies related to credit risk and collectability are disclosed in Note 2.

Unions represent approximately 7% of SpartanNash’s associates. These associates are covered by collective bargaining agreements (“CBAs”). The facilities covered by CBAs, the unions representing the covered associates and the expiration dates for each existing CBA are provided in the following table:

 

Distribution Center Locations

 

Union Locals

 

Expiration Dates

Norfolk, Virginia

 

IBT 822

 

April 2022

Columbus, Georgia

 

IBT 528

 

September 2022

Grand Rapids, Michigan

 

IBT 406

 

October 2022

Landover, Maryland

 

IBT 639

 

February 2024

Lima, Ohio Warehouse

 

IBT 908

 

January 2025

Lima, Ohio Drivers

 

IBT 908

 

January 2025

Bellefontaine, Ohio GTL Truck Lines, Inc.

 

IBT 908

 

February 2025

Bellefontaine, Ohio General Merchandise Service Division

 

IBT 908

 

February 2025

 

 

The Company contributes to the Central States Southeast and Southwest Pension Fund (the “Central States Plan” or the “Plan”), a multi-employer pension plan, in accordance with provisions in place in collective bargaining agreements covering its supply chain operations in Bellefontaine and Lima, Ohio and Grand Rapids, Michigan. This Plan provides retirement benefits to participants based on their service to contributing employers. The benefits to participants under the Plan are paid from assets held in trust for that purpose. An equal number of Trustees are appointed by contributing employers on one hand and by the applicable union(s) on the other hand; however, no representative of SpartanNash is currently serving as a trustee of the Plan. The trustees are responsible for determining the level of benefits to be provided to participants, as well as for such matters as the investment of the assets held in trust and the overall administration of the plan. Our contributions to the Central States Plan are established by each applicable collective bargaining agreement and vary by location. However, our required contributions may increase based on the funded status of the Plan and legal requirements, including those that require substantially underfunded plans like the Central States Plan to adopt a so-called “Rehabilitation Plan” that may require certain increases in employer contribution obligations from year to year.

The Plan continues to be in red zone status, and according to the Pension Protection Act (“PPA”), is considered to be in “critical and declining” zone status. Among other factors, plans in the “critical and declining” zone are generally less than 65% funded and are projected to become insolvent within the next 15 years (or 20 years depending on the ratio of active-to-inactive participants). On March 10, 2021, the United States Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “Act”), which provides financial relief to certain failing multiemployer pension plans. In accordance with the interim guidance issued by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation on July 9, 2021, the Act is designed to prevent such plans from becoming insolvent for the next 30 years. As the Central States Plan is in critical and declining status, it is expected to apply and qualify for relief under the Act on or shortly after their filing period opens on April 1, 2022. The legislation and the available relief are designed to alleviate the risk of insolvency of the Plan for the next 30 years.

The risk of participating in a multi-employer pension plan is different from the risk associated with single-employer plans in the following respects:

 

a.

Assets contributed to the multi-employer plan by one employer may be used to provide benefits to employees of other participating employers.

 

b.

If a participating employer stops contributing to the plan, the unfunded obligations of the plan may be borne by the remaining participating employers.

 

c.

If a company chooses to stop participating in a multi-employer plan, makes market exits such as closing a distribution center without opening another one in the same locale, or otherwise has participation in the plan drop below certain levels, the company may be required to pay those plans an amount based on the underfunded status of the plan, referred to as a withdrawal liability.

Based on the most recent information available to the Company, management believes that the present value of actuarial accrued liabilities in the Central States Plan significantly exceeds the value of the assets held in trust to pay benefits. Management is not aware of any significant change in funding levels in the Plan since January 1, 2022. Due to uncertainty regarding future factors that could trigger a withdrawal liability, as well as the absence of specific information regarding matters such as the Plan’s current financial situations, we are unable to determine with certainty the current amount of the Plan’s underfunding and/or SpartanNash’s current potential withdrawal liability exposure in the event of a future withdrawal from the Plan. Any adjustment for withdrawal liability would be recorded when it is probable that a liability exists and can be reasonably determined.