Pantry Pride
Encyclopedia
Food Fair, also known by its successor name Pantry Pride, was a large supermarket chain in the United States
. It was founded by Samuel N. Friedland, who opened the first store (as Reading Giant Quality Price Cutter) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
in the late 1920s. As of 1957, Food Fair had 275 stores, and at its peak, the chain had more than 500 stores. Friedland's family retained control of the firm through 1978, when the chain entered bankruptcy
.
In 1958, Food Fair purchased Setzer's Supermarkets, a 40-store chain in the Jacksonville, Florida
, area. In 1961, Food Fair bought J.M. Fields Department Stores, a chain of discount department stores in New England
. The latter chain grew substantially, expanding to areas already served by Food Fair, particularly in Florida
. By the 1960s, most J.M. Fields stores featured a J.M. Fields, Food Fair, or Pantry Pride grocery store.
and Nevada
through the purchase of the Fox Markets chain. The western expansion proved exhausting for the predominantly East Coast retailer, eventually divesting the 50 stores by 1972. In 1976, Pantry Pride acquired Hills Supermarkets
of New York
. Later that year, Pantry Pride purchased the remaining 17 stores of Philadelphia-based Penn Fruit
Company.
, Jefferson Ward, and Kmart
. In early 1979, the company left its home market of Philadelphia, where the firm was headquartered, closing its more than 50 stores in the area, even though it was the second largest chain in greater Philadelphia in terms of market share. Between 1979 and 1981, more than 200 stores were closed, along with several warehouses. Food-a-Rama bought 14 of its 48 Baltimore
-area stores in 1981. By this time, Food Fair had emerged from bankruptcy, and was based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
under the name Pantry Pride Stores, Inc. The company had entered into talks to be purchased by Pathmark
Stores that same year, but discussions were abandoned when Pantry Pride's stockholders filed a complaint. Pantry Pride outsourced its wholesale operations to Supervalu
when it sold its Miami and Jacksonville distribution centers. The company then began selling off huge chunks of its assets when it sold two-thirds of its remaining stores, including the last of its Richmond, Virginia
stores to A&P
. Only about 40 stores in southern Florida remained.
In 1984, in separate transactions, Pantry Pride acquired Devon Stores, a home improvement store and the 400-store Adams Drug Company
, which operated in the northeastern United States. The owner of Devon Stores, who obtained about 10.4% of the merged company, then sought an ouster of the Pantry Pride Board of Directors. In 1985, using junk bonds, 38% of Pantry Pride was acquired by investor Ronald Perelman
. This was enough to acquire control, and Perelman liquidated its assets but kept its losses on the books to offset profits from MacAndrews and Forbes, which he had previously acquired. Perelman used Pantry Pride as a vehicle to acquire other companies, in particular Revlon
. By 1986, the name of Pantry Pride was changed to Revlon Group.
In 1985, the last stores in southern Florida were sold to Red Apple Group, a New York supermarket chain owned by John Catsimatidis. By 1990, the chain was being supplied by the Fleming Companies. The last store opened in 1991 in Sunny Isles, Florida. By this time, nearly all of the stores were renamed Wooley's, after acquiring the latter named chain of seven stores in the early 1990s. In 1993, Fleming bought the Wooley's chain after a dispute with Catsimatidis. The remaining stores were either closed or sold by 2000.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was founded by Samuel N. Friedland, who opened the first store (as Reading Giant Quality Price Cutter) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
in the late 1920s. As of 1957, Food Fair had 275 stores, and at its peak, the chain had more than 500 stores. Friedland's family retained control of the firm through 1978, when the chain entered bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
.
Origins
Samuel Friedland opened his first "Reading Giant Quality Price Cutter" supermarket in the 1920s. The success of the first store led to the opening of more stores. In the late 1940s came the introduction of the name Food Fair.In 1958, Food Fair purchased Setzer's Supermarkets, a 40-store chain in the Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, area. In 1961, Food Fair bought J.M. Fields Department Stores, a chain of discount department stores in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. The latter chain grew substantially, expanding to areas already served by Food Fair, particularly in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. By the 1960s, most J.M. Fields stores featured a J.M. Fields, Food Fair, or Pantry Pride grocery store.
The Birth of Pantry Pride
During the 1960s, Food Fair enjoyed great success, but the most significant purchase for the company was that of a small Philadelphia chain called Best Markets. Best's private label brand was called Pantry Pride. When Best Markets launched a chain of no-frills discount grocery stores in mid-decade, it used the name Pantry Pride. The stores that were under the "Pantry Pride" logo eventually became more popular than the "Food Fair" brand. By 1970, Food Fair had converted most of its stores to the Pantry Pride banner, and the company popularity grew further.Expansion in the 1960s and 1970s
In the late 1960s, the company, led by its Pantry Pride stores, continued to grow. The company also opened additional J.M. Fields stores and entered new businesses, launching drug stores, gasoline stations, and shoe stores. It also boosted its core business by entering CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
through the purchase of the Fox Markets chain. The western expansion proved exhausting for the predominantly East Coast retailer, eventually divesting the 50 stores by 1972. In 1976, Pantry Pride acquired Hills Supermarkets
Hills Supermarkets
Hills Supermarkets was a New York based grocery store chain which was popular in the 1960s. In May 1977 it was sold as a subdivision of Pueblo International Inc., to Food Fair.-Growth:...
of 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...
. Later that year, Pantry Pride purchased the remaining 17 stores of Philadelphia-based Penn Fruit
Penn Fruit
The Penn Fruit Company was a regional grocery chain in the Philadelphia and Baltimore areas that operated from 1927 until 1978. During the firm’s history it was regarded as one of the most innovative American supermarket chains...
Company.
Slow Decline, 1978-2000
In 1978, Food Fair fell victim to financial problems. It entered bankruptcy that year and a new management team, led by supermarket veteran Grant Gentry, began streamlining the 456-store, $2.7 billion company. By the end of 1978 the company took the first steps in the long journey out of bankruptcy by closing all of the JM Fields stores. Those stores were quickly purchased by CaldorCaldor
Caldor was a chain of American discount department stores headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, operating throughout the northeastern United States. At one time, the company was a subsidiary of May Department Stores; Caldor was among the country's largest discount retailers.Despite being a popular...
, Jefferson Ward, and Kmart
Kmart
Kmart, sometimes styled as "K-Mart," is a chain of discount department stores. The chain acquired Sears in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and...
. In early 1979, the company left its home market of Philadelphia, where the firm was headquartered, closing its more than 50 stores in the area, even though it was the second largest chain in greater Philadelphia in terms of market share. Between 1979 and 1981, more than 200 stores were closed, along with several warehouses. Food-a-Rama bought 14 of its 48 Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
-area stores in 1981. By this time, Food Fair had emerged from bankruptcy, and was based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
under the name Pantry Pride Stores, Inc. The company had entered into talks to be purchased by 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...
Stores that same year, but discussions were abandoned when Pantry Pride's stockholders filed a complaint. Pantry Pride outsourced its wholesale operations to 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,...
when it sold its Miami and Jacksonville distribution centers. The company then began selling off huge chunks of its assets when it sold two-thirds of its remaining stores, including the last of its Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
stores to A&P
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, is a supermarket and liquor store chain in the United States. Its supermarkets, which are under six different banners, are found in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. A&P's liquor stores, known as...
. Only about 40 stores in southern Florida remained.
In 1984, in separate transactions, Pantry Pride acquired Devon Stores, a home improvement store and the 400-store Adams Drug Company
Adams Drug Company
Adams Drug Company - Founded in the 1930s by Leonard Salmanson.With his father Barnett Salmanson and brothers Samuel, Donald and Charles, Leonard I...
, which operated in the northeastern United States. The owner of Devon Stores, who obtained about 10.4% of the merged company, then sought an ouster of the Pantry Pride Board of Directors. In 1985, using junk bonds, 38% of Pantry Pride was acquired by investor Ronald Perelman
Ronald Perelman
Ronald Owen Perelman is an American business magnate. Through his company MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., he has invested in various companies in grocery, cigar, licorice, makeup, car, photography, television, camping, security, lottery, jewelry, banks, and comic book industries.-Early...
. This was enough to acquire control, and Perelman liquidated its assets but kept its losses on the books to offset profits from MacAndrews and Forbes, which he had previously acquired. Perelman used Pantry Pride as a vehicle to acquire other companies, in particular Revlon
Revlon
Revlon is an American cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company founded in 1932.-History:Revlon was founded in the midst of the Great Depression, 1932, by Charles Revson and his brother Joseph, along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the Revlon name...
. By 1986, the name of Pantry Pride was changed to Revlon Group.
In 1985, the last stores in southern Florida were sold to Red Apple Group, a New York supermarket chain owned by John Catsimatidis. By 1990, the chain was being supplied by the Fleming Companies. The last store opened in 1991 in Sunny Isles, Florida. By this time, nearly all of the stores were renamed Wooley's, after acquiring the latter named chain of seven stores in the early 1990s. In 1993, Fleming bought the Wooley's chain after a dispute with Catsimatidis. The remaining stores were either closed or sold by 2000.
Timeline
- 1920s - Food Fair Stores founded by RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n immigrant Samuel N. Friedland in Harrisburg, PennsylvaniaHarrisburg, PennsylvaniaHarrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
.
- 1957 - Food Fair has 275 stores.
- 1958 - Food Fair purchases 40-store Jacksonville, Florida based Setzer's Supermarkets.
- 1965 - Acquires J.M. Fields Department Stores.
- mid-1960s - Acquires Best Markets and Pantry Pride private label brand, launches Pantry Pride branded discount supermarkets soon after
- 1967(?)- Purchases Fox Supermarkets in California and Nevada.
- 1972(?)- Divests Fox Supermarkets
- 1976 - Purchased Hills SupermarketsHills SupermarketsHills Supermarkets was a New York based grocery store chain which was popular in the 1960s. In May 1977 it was sold as a subdivision of Pueblo International Inc., to Food Fair.-Growth:...
(NY)
- 1976 - Remaining 17 of bankrupt Penn Fruit's Philadelphia area stores are acquired by Food Fair.
- 1978 - Enters Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection. Friedland family gives up control of the company.
- 1981 - Exits Chapter 11 bankruptcy, re-organizes with new corporate name: Pantry Pride Stores, Inc., and moves company headquarters to Fort Lauderdale, FL.
- 1983-84 Sells last two distribution centers to Supervalu, who in turn sold them to Malone and Hyde and Winn-DixieWinn-DixieWinn-Dixie Stores, Inc. is an American supermarket chain based in Jacksonville, Florida. Winn-Dixie has ranked number 24 in the 2010 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2009 fiscal year estimated sales of $7.3 billion by Supermarket News. and was ranked the 43rd largest retailer in the...
.
- 1984 - Pantry Pride operates 122 supermarkets in Florida, southern GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, the TidewaterTidewaterTidewater may refer to:*Tidewater , a geographic area of southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina*Tidewater , a company providing marine services to the offshore petroleum industry...
region of VirginiaVirginiaThe 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...
, and the Bahamas.
- 1984 - Purchases Rhode IslandRhode IslandThe state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
based Adams/Brooks Drug Stores (approx. 400 drug stores in the northeast, principally in New EnglandNew EnglandNew England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
).
- 1984 - Purchases Devon Stores Corp., a 61-store home center chain with locations near U.S. military bases. Sells Virginia division to A&P.
- 1985 - Acquires Revlon Corp. as a holding companyHolding companyA holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
in Ronald PerelmanRonald PerelmanRonald Owen Perelman is an American business magnate. Through his company MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., he has invested in various companies in grocery, cigar, licorice, makeup, car, photography, television, camping, security, lottery, jewelry, banks, and comic book industries.-Early...
's hostile takeover bid.
- 1985 - Samuel Friedland died at age 88 in Miami Beach, FL.
- 1986 - With only a handful of stores (southern Florida), Pantry Pride sells its remaining stores to Gristedes Supermarkets (NY) chairman John Catsimatidis. Now out of the retailRetailRetail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
grocery business, corporate name is changed to The Revlon Group, and moves corporate headquarters from Fort Lauderdale to New York.
- 1988 - Catsimatidis takes on Fleming Companies as a partner after Fleming purchases Malone & Hyde.
- 1991 - Last supermarket opened (Pantry Pride Food Emporium) in Sunny Isles, FL., most other stores are renamed Wooley's.
- 1993 - All remaining Pantry Pride/Wooley's Supermarkets are sold to Fleming.