.gif)
Grand Union (stores)
Encyclopedia
Grand Union is a supermarket chain operated by C&S Wholesale Grocers
of Brattleboro, Vermont
. Originally based in Elmwood Park, New Jersey
(later moving to Wayne, New Jersey
), the company operated mostly in the northeastern United States but at times its reach extended into the Midwest, Southeast, and the Caribbean. Currently, the chain is known as Grand Union Family Markets, and has 26 locations (20 in New York
, 4 in Vermont
, 1 in Connecticut
, 1 in Massachusetts
), chiefly in rural communities.
Grand Union started as the Jones Brothers Tea Company in 1872. By the 1930s it was one of the largest grocery chains in the United States. The name "Grand Union" was inspired by the desire to "unite shoppers with low prices in a 'Grand Union of Value'" as described by company associate Elvin Sanders. The store's mascot was Abraham Lincoln wearing a deli apron, and most stores featured a costumed Lincoln to accomplish deeds, talk to customers, and proclaim the general splendor of the Grand Union, and to urge them to "Save the Union" when the company faced economic hardship. Starting in 1960, the company also operated "Grand Way" stores which were similar to today's super-centers as they combined a discount department store with a grocery store all under one roof. The grocery stores were later separated from the discount stores and sold to Winn-Dixie/Kwik-Chek.
chain operating in the Atlanta metro region up until 1993). In the 1980s it acquired many former A&P stores in northern New Jersey. In the mid 1980s, Goldsmith brought in former Target Corp. executive Floyd Hall
to manage the chain. Goldsmith also had world-renowned artist Milton Glaser
complete a graphical redesign of the chain, which included the "red dot" theme. Through the new management under Hall, the chain was able to make record making profits for once throughout the late 1980s. Goldsmith sold the chain to Floyd Hall and a group of investors in 1988. The chain, however, was quickly resold.
In 1997, Grand Union brought in the well-respected former A&P and Kroger
executive, J. Wayne Harris to begin a turnaround of the ailing chain. Nearly every store that had not already been remodeled went through remodeling and grand reopenings. This built even more debt on the company which entered bankruptcy again in 1998. Early in 1999, the Company emerged from bankruptcy with more than $175 million in cash to spend in the stores. The company also acquired building permits to build some larger stores to compete more effectively. Harris used the cash to finish the last remaining remodels and experiment with new store formats, such as "Hot Dot", a limited assortment store in the mold of Aldi
and Save-A-Lot
, "Grand Union Fresh Markets", an upscale gourmet concept, and "Mega Save", another discount format. Cash quickly dried out as a result of overspending in new stores and reformatting of existing stores. None of the new concepts worked and Harris was forced out of the company in 2000. He was then hired by JC Penney to oversee a turnaround of the Eckerd Corporation, which experienced similar results a couple of years later. Some of the construction permits began to result in the building of new stores. Others started but stopped due to lack of funding. One new store built in Fishkill never opened and in the end was sold after the exit of the market to a Shop Rite owner. Harris left Grand Union with unbearable debt, crumbling sales and a desperate deal for cash with a wholesaler that forced the company back into bankruptcy in 2000. At this point, Grand Union lacked funds to even operate so their bankruptcy was converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation in December of 2000. Stores continued to hang on through the year.
C&S was owed huge money by Grand Union so they reposessed the entire Grand Union chain, bringing it out of bankruptcy and immediately began working to consolidate Grand Union's operations after making a stalking horse offer
. This involved exiting the New York metropolitan area market, where it had done the core of its business, altogether. Most of the larger stores and a decent amount of construction permits were sold to Ahold
, who converted them into Stop & Shop
stores as part of that company's continued expansion into the New York metro area. Others were bought by competing chains such as Shaw's in Connecticut and Massachusetts, Hannaford
in upstate New York and Vermont, and several would be sold to Pathmark
in New Jersey. A few stores were sold to independent grocers. Many of the smaller stores, though were purchased by Eckerd
(later becoming Rite Aid
stores). The rest that weren't sold to competing supermarket or drugstore chains were converted for other retail use or (at least in the case of the former flagship store in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, where the original corporate headquarters was located and where the office tower attached still stood) demolished and replaced with other buildings.
C&S Wholesale Grocers
C&S Wholesale Grocers is a wholesale distributor of food and grocery store items. With its headquarters in Keene, New Hampshire, C&S is the twelfth-largest privately held company in the United States, as listed in 2008 by Forbes. , they are the eighth-largest such company...
of Brattleboro, Vermont
Brattleboro, Vermont
Brattleboro, originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located in the southeast corner of the state, along the state line with New Hampshire. The population was 12,046 at the 2010 census...
. Originally based in Elmwood Park, New Jersey
Elmwood Park, New Jersey
Elmwood Park is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 19,403....
(later moving to Wayne, New Jersey
Wayne, New Jersey
Wayne is a Township in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States, located less than from midtown Manhattan. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township had a total population of 54,069....
), the company operated mostly in the northeastern United States but at times its reach extended into the Midwest, Southeast, and the Caribbean. Currently, the chain is known as Grand Union Family Markets, and has 26 locations (20 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, 4 in Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, 1 in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, 1 in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
), chiefly in rural communities.
Origins
Ownership by Sir James "The Red Raider" Goldsmith
British corporate raider Sir James Goldsmith acquired Grand Union in the early 1970s. Grand Union was a money loser during much of Goldsmith's time of ownership. The company, which was then a national chain, was forced to sell over most of its stores outside of the northeastern states during the early 1980s, such as its Florida, Texas, and Washington, D.C. divisions. (However, the company did retain the Big Star MarketsBig Star Markets
Big Star was an American supermarket chain founded in 1937 as part of the David Pender Grocery Company.-History:The Big Star stores were self-service supermarket operations which began to replace the small full-service stores Pender's had operated up to that point. By the late 1940s the entire...
chain operating in the Atlanta metro region up until 1993). In the 1980s it acquired many former A&P stores in northern New Jersey. In the mid 1980s, Goldsmith brought in former Target Corp. executive Floyd Hall
Floyd Hall
Floyd Hall is an American business executive and sports team owner. Hall was the Chief Executive Officer of Kmart from June 1995–2001. During Hall's term in office, the chain sold off several specialty businesses to focus on its core discount store business, and enjoyed a string of quarterly...
to manage the chain. Goldsmith also had world-renowned artist Milton Glaser
Milton Glaser
Milton Glaser is a graphic designer, best known for the I Love New York logo, his "Bob Dylan" poster, the "DC bullet" logo used by DC Comics from 1977 to 2005, and the "Brooklyn Brewery" logo. He also founded New York Magazine with Clay Felker in 1968.-Biography:Glaser was born into a Hungarian...
complete a graphical redesign of the chain, which included the "red dot" theme. Through the new management under Hall, the chain was able to make record making profits for once throughout the late 1980s. Goldsmith sold the chain to Floyd Hall and a group of investors in 1988. The chain, however, was quickly resold.
1989 acquisition by Gary Hirsch
In 1989, investment banker Gary D. Hirsch, a partner in the firm Miller Tabak Hirsch & Co. acquired a portion of the Grand Union Company with Solomon Brothers. Hirsch had been looking to assemble a grocery empire on the east coast at the time, as he had also recently acquired Penn Traffic of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, P&C Food Markets of Syracuse, NY and the Big Bear Stores Company of Columbus, OH in hostile takeovers. Hirsch assumed the position of chairman while Joseph McCaig became CEO. Floyd Hall left upon the acquisition. Under Hirsch's reign the company had been driven into serious debt and ran out of the necessary capital for store improvements and upgrades, making it difficult for them to compete with other better financed retailers. Still, gradually, Grand Union remodeled most of their stores. Some of their older, run down stores were closed and converted to other uses. Grand Union's big disadventage was that their average store was 35,000 square feet while most supermarkets being built were over 50,000. The company did build a few larger stores as well. Financial problems plagued the company into 1995. The company then entered its first bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in 1995 and exited in 1996. After the reorganization, Hirsch resigned and sold off his stake in the company. The company continued remodeling remaining older stores.The J. Wayne Harris era
Kroger
The Kroger Co. is an American supermarket chain founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It reported US$ 76.7 billion in sales during fiscal year 2009. It is the country's largest grocery store chain and its second-largest grocery retailer by volume and second-place general retailer...
executive, J. Wayne Harris to begin a turnaround of the ailing chain. Nearly every store that had not already been remodeled went through remodeling and grand reopenings. This built even more debt on the company which entered bankruptcy again in 1998. Early in 1999, the Company emerged from bankruptcy with more than $175 million in cash to spend in the stores. The company also acquired building permits to build some larger stores to compete more effectively. Harris used the cash to finish the last remaining remodels and experiment with new store formats, such as "Hot Dot", a limited assortment store in the mold of Aldi
ALDI
ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...
and Save-A-Lot
Save-A-Lot
Save-a-Lot is a discount supermarket chain headquartered in Earth City, Missouri, near St. Louis, United States. The subsidiary of Supervalu comprises approximately 1,250 stores in the United States with over $4 billion in annual sales....
, "Grand Union Fresh Markets", an upscale gourmet concept, and "Mega Save", another discount format. Cash quickly dried out as a result of overspending in new stores and reformatting of existing stores. None of the new concepts worked and Harris was forced out of the company in 2000. He was then hired by JC Penney to oversee a turnaround of the Eckerd Corporation, which experienced similar results a couple of years later. Some of the construction permits began to result in the building of new stores. Others started but stopped due to lack of funding. One new store built in Fishkill never opened and in the end was sold after the exit of the market to a Shop Rite owner. Harris left Grand Union with unbearable debt, crumbling sales and a desperate deal for cash with a wholesaler that forced the company back into bankruptcy in 2000. At this point, Grand Union lacked funds to even operate so their bankruptcy was converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation in December of 2000. Stores continued to hang on through the year.
2001 acquisition by C&S Wholesale Grocers
C&S Wholesale Grocers, a New England-based wholesale food distributor, now one of the largest in the nation, faced a huge loss of revenue because Grand Union was its largest customer at the time.C&S was owed huge money by Grand Union so they reposessed the entire Grand Union chain, bringing it out of bankruptcy and immediately began working to consolidate Grand Union's operations after making a stalking horse offer
Stalking horse offer
A stalking horse offer, agreement, or bid is an attempt by a debtor to test the market in advance of an auction. The intent is to maximize the value of its assets as part of a bankruptcy court-approved auction process.- Procedure :...
. This involved exiting the New York metropolitan area market, where it had done the core of its business, altogether. Most of the larger stores and a decent amount of construction permits were sold to Ahold
Ahold
Ahold is a major international supermarket operator based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Ahold is listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.-History:...
, who converted them into Stop & Shop
Stop & Shop
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company is a chain of supermarkets located mostly in the northeastern United States. Its main rivals are Shaw's Star Market and Hannaford in New England, while ShopRite and the A&P family of supermarkets are its main competition in New York and New Jersey.- History :Stop...
stores as part of that company's continued expansion into the New York metro area. Others were bought by competing chains such as Shaw's in Connecticut and Massachusetts, Hannaford
Hannaford Bros. Co.
Hannaford is an American supermarket chain based in Scarborough, Maine. Founded in 1883, Hannaford now operates stores in New England and upstate New York. Formerly known as Shop 'N' Save, Hannaford is owned by the American subsidiary of the Belgian Delhaize Group, Delhaize America, which owns over...
in upstate New York and Vermont, and several would be sold to Pathmark
Pathmark
Pathmark is a supermarket chain headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey. It was founded in 1968 when its then parent, Supermarkets General Corporation, pulled out of the ShopRite retailers' cooperative...
in New Jersey. A few stores were sold to independent grocers. Many of the smaller stores, though were purchased by Eckerd
Eckerd
Eckerd Corporation was an American drug store chain that was headquartered in Largo, Florida, and toward the end of its life, in Warwick, Rhode Island....
(later becoming Rite Aid
Rite Aid
Rite Aid is a drugstore chain in the United States and a Fortune 500 company headquartered in East Pennsboro Township, Pennsylvania, near Camp Hill. Rite Aid is the largest drugstore chain on the East Coast and the third largest drugstore chain in the U.S....
stores). The rest that weren't sold to competing supermarket or drugstore chains were converted for other retail use or (at least in the case of the former flagship store in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, where the original corporate headquarters was located and where the office tower attached still stood) demolished and replaced with other buildings.