"FoodLand" is the name of a regional American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 supermarket

Supermarket

A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...

 chain

Chain store

Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...

 based in New Stanton, Pennsylvania

New Stanton, Pennsylvania

New Stanton is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,906 at the 2000 census. New Stanton is often used as a control city in western parts of Pennsylvania, as I-70 joins the Pennsylvania Turnpike eastbound towards Breezewood, Pennsylvania in New...

. The stores' "F" logo are a registered trademark of Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

-based SuperValu

Supervalu (United States)

SuperValu Inc. is a United States grocery retailer and distributor. The corporation, headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, has been in business for over a century. It is the third-largest food retailing company in the United States , and ranks #51 on the Fortune 100 list.On June 2, 2006,...

 stores, which serves as the chain's main wholesale distributor.

Company background

The Foodland store chain consists of 68 conventional supermarkets in the Eastern United States

Eastern United States

The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...

, including 30 throughout West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

, 1 in southwestern

Southwest Virginia

Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all Virginia counties on the Appalachian Plateau, all Virginia counties west of the Eastern Continental Divide, or...

 Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, 20 in the Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

 area of western

Western Pennsylvania

Western Pennsylvania consists of the western third of the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. Pittsburgh is the largest city in the region, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic and cultural center. Erie, Altoona, and Johnstown are its...

 Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, 5 in eastern Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, 5 in southeastern Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, and 3 in the panhandle of western

Western Maryland

Western Maryland is the portion of the U.S. state of Maryland that consists of Frederick, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett counties. The region is bounded by the Mason-Dixon line to the north, Preston County, West Virginia to the west, and the Potomac River to the south. There is dispute over the...

 Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

. For much of the 2000s, their slogn was "Close to Home"; it has currently transitioned into "When You're Hungry for Dinner."

The FoodLand Supermarket concept is unique in that the square footage of each store varies and is based on the size of the community each store serves. Internally within the chain, stores are classified as "A" (smaller/medium volume) and "AA" (larger/high volume). However, the classification is based on sales volume of each store so some smaller stores that are high volume are "AA" and some larger stores with lower sales volume can be grouped in "A" As the size of the store is reflective of each community's needs, store size ranges from 12,000 to 60,000 square feet.

The Foodland ad circular is distributed on a weekly basis. It is typically eight pages and is printed on magazine quality paper. Advertising is planned by store owners/managers in a weekly meeting and is split into two groups, Milton, West Virginia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At some of the meetings, both groups are connected via satellite and share sales plans, ideas and concepts.
The group concept is unique to other store groups in the United States.

Foodland Express

In an effort to increase the store count and to expand into more rural communities within its trade area, a smaller store concept was rolled out in 2001 named Foodland Express. FoodLand Express stores are "superettes" (ranging from 8,000 to 12,000 in square feet). A more limited merchandise selection is carried than what can be found in a standard FoodLand store. They can be found in smaller rural communities or inner city locales that serve a very limited trade area. A shopper can find everything she needs at Foodland Express, but assortments are restricted to the best-selling brands in the best selling sizes along with a full S.K.U. count of FoodLand's "family" of value priced private label products. Unlike the limited grocery department, the fresh meat department carries a much larger selection similar to what is carried in the standard FoodLand store concept. Combined Deli-Bakery departments are usually included in most Foodland Express stores. Originally, this concept used a four (4) page ad instead of the standard eight (8) page ad that has been used for many years by FoodLand. The Foodland Express ad was originally smaller in size so that the stores didn't have to carry as many items as a standard Foodland store kept in stock. As the small store concept has developed, it now uses the standard eight page circular.

The Foodland Express concept uses a decor package that is similar to what can be found in a larger FoodLand outlet. Base colors are a slight variation and incorporate a black and white checkered racing flag design to emphasize the "get in and out quickly" nature of the Foodland Express concept.

Foodland Fresh

In 1996, another store concept was introduced as Foodland Fresh. At the time of its introduction, the Foodland Fresh concept garnered national attention in the supermarket industry as it focused on the perishable departments which continues to be the mass marketer's biggest weakness. Considered innovative at the time, it took the standard conventional supermarket layout and enlarged the perishable departments with upscale lighting and increased merchandise offerings. The Westmoreland Foodland Fresh, located in the west end of Huntington, West Virginia, was the first to be upgraded to this concept and served as its early prototype store. Within a year, many Foodland stores (mostly larger locations) were remodeled and converted to the fresh concept. At more than 50,000 square feet, the Bigley Avenue Foodland in Charleston, West Virginia was the first ground up Foodland Fresh store and was built that same year. After completion, it was the largest independently owned supermarket east of the Mississippi River. Foodland Fresh is more upscale in design and appearance than most conventional supermarkets. Interior decor was designed and installed by Paris Signs of Huntington, WV. By 1999, most Foodland stores had being converted to the Foodland Fresh concept. Outlets that were not large enough to support the fresh concept were remodeled to a similar but noticeably scaled down appearance so that all stores shared a united theme, with the larger Foodland Fresh stores being the upgraded version of the standard Foodland Store.

Foodland Plus

The Foodland Plus concept was developed in early 1989 by then Foodland distributor/owner Wetterau Incorporated. The ever increasing need for larger stores brought this concept into action as a way for larger Foodland stores to differentiate from the smaller stores. This concept was unique as it was envisioned as a smaller version of the "hypermart" concept similar to today's Wal Mart Supercenters. It featured extensive general merchandise along with the typical Foodland variety of name brand, private label, and value priced food items. This concept was rather short-lived as Wetterau sold its holdings to Supervalu in 1992, just as the Foodland Plus concept was taking off. Some former Wetterau customers use the Foodland Plus banner to this day but are no longer affiliated with the FoodLand chain supported by Supervalu. Since they were FoodLand stores prior to the Supervalu acquisition, they are allowed to use the name only for the pre-existing FoodLand stores. If they wish to open new FoodLand stores, they must use the FoodLand Plus banner as it is not owned by Supervalu and is considered an abandoned trademark.

Fuel Links

West Kittanning and Ford City, Pennsylvania

Ford City, Pennsylvania

Ford City is a borough in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, United States, northeast of Pittsburgh along the east bank of the Allegheny River and 4 miles south of Kittanning, the county seat....

 stores were the original Metrosplash/Fuellinks test sites for their previous gas program which was changed to the Fueland Rollback Rewards program. A few of the larger sized FoodLand stores feature Fuel Centers. Most have a Delicatessan and Bakery along with the traditional grocery store departments. Most Foodland stores use Fujitsu TeamPos systems running StoreNext Scanmaster POS software.

Every Foodland location is locally owned and operated, with inventory support from SuperValu

Supervalu (United States)

SuperValu Inc. is a United States grocery retailer and distributor. The corporation, headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, has been in business for over a century. It is the third-largest food retailing company in the United States , and ranks #51 on the Fortune 100 list.On June 2, 2006,...

. To compete with other grocery chains such as Giant Eagle

Giant Eagle

Giant Eagle, Inc., is a supermarket chain with stores in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland. The company was founded in 1918 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Supermarket News ranked Giant Eagle No. 21 in the 2009 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2008...

 and Shop 'n Save

Shop 'n Save (Pittsburgh)

Shop ‘n Save is a locally owned and operated grocery store chain with more than 70 supermarket locations within Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, and West Virginia. Established in 1968 as one of the nation's first discount grocery stores, Shop ‘n Save offers cheap name-brand and private label...

, FoodLand has partnered with Fueland gas stations/convenience stores in the greater Pittsburgh area. All FueLand locations are located just outside the grocery store.

To further meet the needs of its customers, Foodland offers an internet shopping service for hard to find food products through its website. Customers can order these items direct and have them delivered to their door. These are items typically stocked only in specialty food retail stores and are hard to locate in general. Many of these items are stocked in the FoodLand stores also. Store managers are instructed to do their best to locate customer requests, using the buying power of SuperValu, who has access to hundreds of manufacturers. If the item is unavailable, a suitable brand is suggested to the customer that is available to the stores.

The "FoodLand" name

The name "Foodland," being fairly generic in nature and apparently not a registered trademark, appears as all or part of the name of countless unaffiliated grocery stores throughout the United States, as well as in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 and Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 http://www.foodland.co.th/contactus.htm| The Foodland logo used by stores in the eastern, US is a registered trademark of SuperValu. The name "FoodLand" was used in the 1993 film What's Eating Gilbert Grape

What's Eating Gilbert Grape

What's Eating Gilbert Grape is a 1993 film directed by Lasse Hallström and starring Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio. Peter Hedges wrote the screenplay adapted from his 1991 novel of the same name...

, as the fictional "Lamson's Grocery" store's rival.

FoodLand stores with the same logo featuring the distinctive F can be found throughout the US and Canada in various regions. These stores were once affiliated with FoodLand International Corporation, Inc. along with many stores in the chain now based in New Stanton, PA. Foodland International was a group of independent grocers and wholesalers similar to IGA, who unified their efforts in an attempt to compete with the larger chain stores at the time. It was incorporated in 1958 by Davis Wholesale Grocery Company. However the FoodLand name was first used by the Foodland Corporation of Cleveland, Ohio in 1938. Davis acquired the franchise concept of FoodLand by acquisition of another wholesale company that had copyrighted the name and had operated as FoodLand, Inc., and was the direct predecessor to Foodland International. Original FoodLand trademarks were registered by that organization prior to 1958. These trademarks were then acquired by Foodland International mainly for the continued procurement of private labels merchandise. Foodland private labeled branding, allowed independent stores and retailers a useful tool to compete with the larger chains of the time and experienced high growth levels during the 1960s and 1970s. This was primarily the focus of the organization in its early years. The unique aspect of this organization was that its executive arm was composed of actual FoodLand store owners and all decisions pertaining to advertising etc. were made by them. As time went on, the organization grew to include more members and more functions such as television advertising, public affairs, store development, and many other functions. These operations were then advised by Davis Grocery Co. and its later owners, as it was the preferred store franchise used by that wholesale company to attract new retail customers. Davis was later purchased by John Fox of the Fox Grocery Company who then operated using FoodLand International in the same manner as Davis had done in the past. Wetterau Inc., a St. Louis, Missouri based wholesale grocery company purchased Fox in 1984
and continued to support Foodland International as its wholesaler and parent company. Wetterau became a part of SuperValu, Inc. in 1992. By that time, all distribution of Foodland products were limited to retail stores supported by SuperValu. All necessary copyrights for Foodland and the distribution of its products were then transferred to Supervalu at that time

A retailer's convention was held annually in various locales around the world, in such places as Rome, Italy(1972) and Honolulu, Hawaii(1979) (The latter being the home of an unrelated Foodland

Foodland Hawaii

"Foodland" is the name of an American supermarket chain, headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. Foodland operates 31 stores throughout the state of Hawaii under the "Foodland," "Foodland Farms," and "Sack 'N Save" names. "Food, Family & Friends" is their current slogan...

chain), but included the principals of that chain for the activities at this convention. By the late 1980s the larger alliance had faded, basically due to the retirement of key members, coupled with many wholesalers selling out to larger operators. Many of these stores remain, still operated as FoodLand but supplied by various wholesalers. On August 11, 1992, Wetterau, Inc. registered the current trademark with the distinctive F in a new style of lettering with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. That was the official end of the any ties or additional claims of name usage by the Foodland International Corporation. Shortly afterwards, Wetterau was merged into SUPERVALU HOLDINGS who now owns trademark rights to that design of the FoodLand logo. Any location not currently affiliated with SUPERVALU that still uses the same FoodLand banner was in operation prior to SUPERVALU/Wetterau's registration of the trademark and therefore retain the rights to use the same FoodLand logo.

The only known "group" or chain of FoodLand stores is the one based in New Stanton, PA and distributed by SuperValu. These stores were previously supplied by Wetterau, another wholesale company which was acquired by SuperValu in late 1992. SuperValu has made a concerned effort to revitalize the Foodland name, and their marketing strategy does quite well in the communities they serve, usually the number one or two in market share. Stores with no affiliation to SuperValu are not considered a part of any chain and are remnants of past affiliations with Wetterau/other wholesalers distributing the Foodland private labels. The Foodland label was once found in these stores prior to 1992, but are now only distributed by SuperValu.\

Ray Stevens, a longtime music recording artist used Benson's Foodland Supermarket, located in Hermitage, just outside Nashville, TN. for the setting of his video for "The Streak", which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1974. In the video, which was actually taped several years after the song's release, Foodland private label merchandise can be seen on the shelves in the background. Benson's Foodland is still in operation as a Foodland outlet at this time though not a part of the Supervalu Foodland store chain.