Associated Foods Stores Inc. experienced some "real" growth in sales over last year, the corporation's leader said Friday at the corporation's annual shareholder meeting.

Chief executive officer Rich Parkinson told an audience of about 500 people at the Grand America Hotel that sales for the grocery store cooperative increased 3.3 percent, or nearly $55.9 million, to nearly $1.69 billion for the year ended March 28 compared to a year earlier.

"There was some real growth in our system last year," he said. "We can take great comfort in that the Intermountain West possibly was not as affected as the rest of the nation with this economic downturn."

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Associated Foods is a cooperatively owned wholesale distributor to almost 600 independently owned supermarkets in an eight-state region. In addition to wholesale sales to member stores, the company sells goods to nonmember retailers and operates retail grocery stores.

Known for its distinctive "Cart in the A" logo, the corporation has more than 1,400 employees and ships more than 750 truckloads of groceries each week.

Despite the economic challenges facing many retail businesses, Parkinson said, the short-term forecast for the company is improving.

"The bright news is that we are starting to see indications of change," he said.

"We're starting to see an uptick in sales (and) we're starting to see a reversal of the (negative) trends we've been experiencing."

E-MAIL: jlee@desnews.com