Supervalu Cutting 800 Corporate and Regional Jobs

Once in awhile, the corporate flacks really tie themselves up in knots with these layoff announcements Here is the Minneapolis -St. Paul Business Journal with the details:

Supervalu Inc. said Tuesday it is eliminating 800 jobs from its corporate and regional offices nationwide as part of its yearlong effort to cut costs and offer more competitive grocery prices.

Supervalu said in a news release the cuts include layoffs of current employees and open jobs that won't be filled. The grocer expects most of the cuts to be done by Feb. 25, the end of the company's fiscal year.

About 200 jobs are being cut at the company's Eden Prairie headquarters, representing about 7 percent of its headquarters staff.

So far, pretty standard stuff, but check this out:

"These reductions are necessary to help further strengthen and accelerate Supervalu's business turnaround in a very competitive marketplace," Supervalu CEO Craig Herkert said in the news release.

A month ago, Supervalu said its turnaround plan was still on course despite reporting a widening loss in the third quarter. Sales were down 4 percent for the quarter that ended Dec. 3.

There's only one thing proper reaction to that: Dooooooooh!