Save Mart owner Bob Piccinini dead at 73

Robert “Bob” Piccinini, the congenial and savvy chairman of the board and majority shareholder of the Modesto-based Save Mart Supermarkets empire, died Tuesday morning at his Modesto home. He was 73.

Word of his death slowly circulated Tuesday afternoon. Later in the afternoon, Save Mart released an official statement:

“The Piccinini family announced with sadness today the passing of Robert “Bob” Piccinini, the Chairman of Save Mart Supermarkets. In life, Bob was most passionate about two things—his family and his company. He purchased Save Mart from the Piccinini and Tocco families in 1985 after working his way up through the ranks—box boy, truck driver, store manager, Vice President of Real Estate and on to President and Chief Executive Officer. He is credited with taking Save Mart from a homegrown, Central Valley chain to the regional competitor it is today. ...”

Piccinini’s health declined over the last two years, according to people close to him, and he reportedly died of congestive heart failure. He retired as Save Mart CEO last September and left the day-to-day operations to Steve Junqueiro, Greg Hill and his daughter Nicole Piccinini Pesco.

Raised in Manteca, Piccinini broke into the grocery business when he was 12 at his father’s store, Mike’s Market. He pressed labels onto packaged meats and earned 50 cents an hour.

Sixty years later, Piccinini leaves a major imprint as the owner and operator of more than 240 stores in Northern and Central California under the Save Mart, S-Mart, Lucky, FoodMaxx and MaxValue banners. He was ranked 243rd in the 2013 Forbes list of wealthiest Americans with a net worth estimated at $2.3 billion.

Piccinini’s passion for sports was life-long, though he did not excel at athletics. He was a minority owner of the Golden State Warriors and owned several minor-league baseball teams over the years, including the Fresno Giants minor league baseball team from 1982 to 1987.He headed an investment group that nearly purchased the Oakland Athletics in 1999. He also signed off on the company’s decision to buy naming rights to the Save Mart Center in Fresno.

In 1998, he helped rejuvenate the then-sagging Modesto Relays through sponsorship and kept it alive and in Modesto for another decade. His company’s name has been on NASCAR’s Sonoma stop – the Toyota/Save Mart 350 – for years.