Buttrey Food & Drug

Buttrey Food & Drug Stores Co.

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Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Retail
Predecessor	F.A. Buttrey Co.
Founded	1896 (Havre, Montana)
Founder	Frank A. Buttrey
Defunct	October 1998
Fate	Purchased by and rebranded as Albertsons
Successor	Albertsons
Headquarters	Great Falls, Montana
Number of locations	44 (1984), 43 (1998)
Area served	Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming
Products	Supermarkets/food-drug stores
Revenue	$391.4 million (1998)
Parent	The Jewel Companies, Inc. (1966–1984) American Stores (1984–1990)
Subsidiaries	Buttrey Big Fresh Buttrey Fresh Foods

Buttrey Food & Drug was a grocery store chain established in Havre, Montana and later headquartered in Great Falls, Montana. Originating in 1896 as a department store chain under the name Buttrey Department Store, it launched its grocery operations in 1935. After being acquired by The Jewel Companies, Inc. in 1966, the company divested its department store segment. Following Jewel’s sale to American Stores in 1984, Buttrey was spun off as an independent entity in 1990. Ultimately, the chain was acquired by its chief rival, Boise-based Albertsons, in January 1998, leading to the retirement of the Buttrey brand. At the time of acquisition, Buttrey operated 43 stores across Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota, generating revenues of approximately US$391.4 million.

History

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Logo used by Buttrey Food Stores until 1980

Origins

The origins of Buttrey date back to 1896 when Frank A. Buttrey opened a small retail outlet offering clothing and groceries in Aldridge, Montana—a mining town in Park County, Montana that was short-lived. A second location was established in Trailcreek, within Flathead County, Montana, in 1899. By 1902, Buttrey relocated to Havre, Montana, where he opened a dry goods and general merchandise business. The enterprise was formally incorporated as F.A. Buttrey Co. in 1909.

Expansion along Montana’s Hi-Line began in 1921 with additional store openings. The following year, Buttrey launched Montana’s first radio station, KFBB, based initially in Havre before relocating it to Great Falls seven years later. In 1935, the company separated its grocery division into a distinct entity named Buttrey Foods, Inc. A frozen food storage facility was constructed in Great Falls in 1939; that same year saw the introduction of frozen food lockers for rent in Havre. The acquisition of Berger Department Store in Great Falls occurred in 1944 under F.A. Buttrey Co. Frank Buttrey passed away at age 80 in Havre five years later.

By 1954, the headquarters for both Buttrey Foods’ home office and grocery distribution were relocated from Havre to Great Falls. At this point, the grocery chain operated fifteen stores throughout Montana. In 1958, Buttrey Foods unveiled Montana’s largest supermarket located in Great Falls. Two years later, F.A. Buttrey Co. also moved its operations to Great Falls to join the grocery business.

Purchase by Jewel Companies and American Stores

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Logo for Buttrey-Osco stores used throughout the 1980s

In 1966, the Chicago-based grocery chain Jewel Companies acquired Buttrey Foods. The F.A. Buttrey Co. outlets, operating under the Buttreys Suburban name and excluded from the Jewel acquisition, shuttered by 1976. Following Jewel's takeover, Buttrey Foods introduced Buttrey-Osco combination stores, merging offerings from Buttrey and Osco Drug. Subsequently, Jewel Companies pursued an extensive expansion strategy, establishing Buttrey locations across multiple new markets in the Northwestern and Upper Midwestern United States. By 1981, Buttrey ran 53 stores spanning Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

In June 1984, Jewel Companies was acquired by American Stores. The following year, Buttrey Foods assumed full control of all 31 Buttrey-Osco outlets and rebranded them as Buttrey Food & Drug stores. In 1986, American Stores moved Buttrey's corporate headquarters to Salt Lake City, Utah, where American Stores' Skaggs-Alpha Beta division was based. Subsequently, Buttrey adopted the Skaggs-Alpha Beta banner for its store branding.

July 1987 saw the closure of seven Idaho locations, including all stores in Boise and Pocatello. Of the five Boise stores, three were sold to Albertsons.

In September 1987, Skaggs Alpha-Beta was reorganized as Alpha-Beta Stores, Inc., prompting the relocation of Buttrey's headquarters back to Great Falls under a newly created Alpha-Beta division.

American Stores placed Buttrey up for sale in May 1990 and finalized its sale in August to an investment consortium (Buttrey Acquisition Corp) led by Buttrey's management alongside Los Angeles–based firm Freeman Spogli & Co. The transaction yielded $184 million for American Stores from sale proceeds and related agreements. At that time, Buttrey operated 44 outlets employing approximately 4,200 staff across Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming.

Introduction of Buttrey Big Fresh and Albertsons Acquisition

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A former Buttrey store in Missoula, Montana, acquired by Albertsons during the 1998 merger

November 1990 marked the announcement of closures for the last two Idaho stores located in Idaho Falls and Twin Falls. In 1991, Buttrey replaced its Skaggs-Alpha Beta private label products with Shurfine brands. To reduce debt burdens, Buttrey Food & Drug went public in 1992. By 1994, the company divested its six remaining Washington stores to concentrate on core markets in Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota.

Facing rising competition from large-scale retailers like Costco Wholesale and Walmart entering its primary regions, Buttrey unveiled the Buttrey Big Fresh format in November 1995 to boost customer traffic. The inaugural Big Fresh location was a remodeled Great Falls store featuring expanded food departments alongside a Buttrey Food Court offering a coffee and espresso bar plus various small dining options. Over subsequent years, several additional stores were converted into the Big Fresh concept.

In January 1998, competitor Albertsons declared plans to purchase Buttrey Food & Drug for $134 million. The acquisition was finalized in October of that year; all 29 former Buttrey outlets were converted promptly into Albertsons stores following completion of the deal, marking the end of the Buttrey brand. To satisfy antitrust regulations, fifteen former Buttrey and Albertsons locations were sold to Smith's and SuperValu. At acquisition time, Buttrey's portfolio included 44 stores across Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming operating under banners such as Buttrey Food & Drug, Buttrey Big Fresh, and Buttrey Fresh Foods. Shortly after acquiring Buttrey, Albertsons also purchased American Stores—the previous owner of Buttrey from 1984 to 1990—for $8 billion.

Incidents

In July 1985, a resident of Anaconda, Montana discovered an active explosive device inside the packaging of a frozen broccoli meal.<ref name=bomb1>Police were notified after the woman reported purchasing the frozen dinner from a Buttrey outlet approximately four months earlier. Authorities instructed all grocery stores in Anaconda to inspect their inventory for similar threats; nonetheless, no additional bombs were uncovered.

Two years later, in July 1987, following the announcement of Buttrey's Boise, Idaho stores being sold to rival Albertsons, an anonymous woman from Boise contacted Norm Seymour, Buttrey's loss prevention officer. She alleged that her spouse had planted bombs in five different Buttrey locations throughout Boise.<ref name=bomb>Upon receiving this information, Seymour immediately alerted law enforcement and directed all Buttrey store managers in Boise to evacuate their premises. Law enforcement personnel conducted thorough searches of the stores but found no explosives. The establishments resumed normal operations shortly thereafter.

See also

• KFBB-TV, a television broadcaster named in honor of a radio station originally established by Frank Buttrey