"Times Supermarkets" is the name of an 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...

, headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...

. Times operates 20 stores throughout the state of Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, 17 using the "Times" banner, two specialty food/liquor stores under the Fujioka’s Wine Times name, and one location operating as "Shima's Supermarket" in Waimanalo, Hawaii. "A Supermarket With Everyday Low Prices" is their current slogan. It is also referred to by its customers as The Times, rather than the full name.

History

Times Supermarkets was founded in 1949 by brothers Albert and Wallace Teruya, who were sons of Okinawan immigrants. The two opened its first store in Honolulu and began expanding statewide afterwards. In 2009 Times acquired another Honolulu-based supermarket chain, Star Markets, giving them more locations in the Honolulu area, although it did sell 2 of Star's 7 stores to CVS Pharmacy (to convert into Long's Drugs) due to CVS wanting to block Walgreens

Walgreens

Walgreen Co. , doing business as Walgreens , is the largest drugstore chain in the United States of America. As of August 31st, the company operates 8,210 locations across all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1901, and has since expanded...

 from entering their respective markets. CVS/Longs Drugs has been acquiring as many locations as possible to slow Walgreens Expansion. Star was Honolulu's first supermarket chain, having started in 1940.

Times is the second-largest supermarket chain in the state and the second oldest as well as it competes with another Honolulu-based supermarket chain 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...

, who is state's largest and oldest (it was founded in 1948, a year before Times began operations). It also has competition with Safeway

Safeway Inc.

Safeway Inc. , a Fortune 500 company, is North America's second largest supermarket chain after The Kroger Co., with, as of December 2010, 1,694 stores located throughout the western and central United States and western Canada. It also operates some stores in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern...

, Costco

Costco

Costco Wholesale Corporation is the largest membership warehouse club chain in the United States. it is the third largest retailer in the United States, where it originated, and the ninth largest in the world...

, Don Quijote

Don Quijote (store)

is a discount chain store that has over 160 locations throughout Japan as well as three stores in Hawaii. It carries a wide range of products, from basic groceries to electronics to clothing. The store is well known in Japan and is often referred to by its shortened name .-History:Don Quijote...

, and Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...

.

After the Teruyas sold Times, they would later become owners of The Ilima Hotel in Honolulu.

In 2002, Times Supermarkets was acquired by PAQ, a Stockton, California

Stockton, California

Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...

 based operator of Food 4 Less

Food 4 Less

Food 4 Less is a national price-impact warehouse grocery chain, currently owned by Kroger. It is a no-frills grocery store where the customers bag their own groceries at the checkout...

stores.