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                                                                  Exhibit (A)(8)
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NEWS
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[LETTERHEAD OF RICHFOOD HOLDINGS, INC. APPEARS HERE]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

                   RICHFOOD HOLDINGS, INC. AGREES TO ACQUIRE
                       DART GROUP CORPORATION, OWNER OF
                            SHOPPERS FOOD WAREHOUSE

Richmond, Virginia, April 9, 1998 - Richfood Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: RFH) 
announced today the signing of a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which 
Richfood will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Dart Group 
Corporation for $160 per share in cash, or approximately $207 million.  Dart's 
Board of Directors has unanimously approved the agreement and recommended that 
Dart's shareholders accept the Richfood offer.

To implement the agreement, Richfood will commence a cash tender offer within 
five business days.  The completion of the tender offer is not subject to 
financing, which has been committed by First Union National Bank, but is subject
to other customary conditions, including the acquisition of a majority of Dart's
outstanding common stock on a fully diluted basis and the expiration of the 
waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.  Shares not purchased under the 
tender offer will be acquired in a subsequent merger, at the same price, as soon
as practicable after completion of the tender offer.  Following the transaction,
Dart will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Richfood.

Dart Group, headquartered in Landover, Maryland, comprises Shoppers Food 
Warehouse, a 100% owned chain of 37 price-impact supermarkets operating in the 
Greater Washington, D.C. market; Trak Auto, a publicly owned retailer of auto 
parts, 67% owned by Dart; Crown Books, a publicly owned retailer of popular 
books, 52% owned by Dart; and Total Beverage, a 100% owned discount beverage 
retailer based in Washington, D.C.

"The acquisition of Shoppers Food Warehouse fits perfectly into Richfood's 
strategy of selectively expanding its retail presence in the Mid-Atlantic 
market," said John Stokely, President and Chief Executive Officer of Richfood.  
"Shoppers is located squarely in the middle of our core market," Stokely added, 
"flanked by our Metro stores to the north in Baltimore and Farm Fresh to the 
south in Tidewater, with virtually no overlap between its locations and those of
Richfood's other customers.  We believe that combining Shoppers' highly 
productive retail format with the full range of Richfood's distribution and 
logistic capabilities will create significant economics benefiting customers and
shareholders alike. With this acquisition, Richfood will own approximately 100
supermarkets stretching from Delaware to southern Virginia, achieving a critical
mass that will permit us to optimize operating leverage, particularly in the
areas of distribution, technology and shared administrative services. As with
our recent Farm Fresh acquisition, the acquisition of Shoppers will be
immediately accretive to Richfood."

