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Pantry Pride

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Pantry Pride
FormerlyFood Fair
IndustryGrocery store
Founded1920s in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States
FoundersSamuel N. Friedland and brother George I. Friedland
DefunctTemplate:End date and age
Number of locations
275 (1957)

Food Fair, later rebranded as Pantry Pride, was a prominent supermarket chain operating across the United States. The enterprise was established by Samuel N. Friedland along with his brother George I. Friedland, who launched their initial store under the name Reading Giant Quality Price Cutter in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania during the late 1920s. By 1957, Food Fair had expanded to 275 outlets, ultimately reaching an excess of 500 locations at its height. The Friedland family maintained ownership until 1978, when the company faced bankruptcy.

Early Development

The Friedland brothers inaugurated their first supermarket, called "Reading Giant Quality Price Cutter," in the 1920s. Following the success of this initial venture, they proceeded to open additional stores. The brand name Food Fair was introduced in the late 1940s to represent their growing supermarket business.

In 1958, Food Fair acquired Setzer's Supermarkets, a chain consisting of 38 stores based around the Jacksonville, Florida region.[1] Three years later, in 1961, Food Fair expanded further by purchasing J.M. Fields Department Stores, a discount department store chain operating primarily in New England.[2] This acquisition led to considerable growth for J.M. Fields, which began to serve markets already covered by Food Fair, especially within Florida. By the decade’s end, many shopping centers hosting J.M. Fields locations also included either a Food Fair or Pantry Pride grocery store.

Emergence of Pantry Pride

File:Food Fair - 1963.svg
Final Food Fair logo used from 1963 onwards

Throughout the 1960s, Food Fair experienced substantial growth; however, its most notable acquisition was Best Markets, a smaller supermarket chain based in Philadelphia. Best Markets featured a private label named Pantry Pride. The inaugural Pantry Pride store opened at 9:00 a.m. on August 26, 1964, in Hazlet, New Jersey, experimenting with a minimalist discount retail concept. Gradually, stores operating under the "Pantry Pride" brand outshone those using the "Food Fair" name in popularity. By the early 1970s, the majority of Food Fair locations had transitioned to the Pantry Pride banner, further enhancing the company's market presence.

Growth During the 1960s and 1970s

Throughout the late 1960s, the company experienced continued expansion, primarily driven by its Pantry Pride outlets. It also increased its footprint by launching additional J.M. Fields stores and diversifying into new sectors such as drug stores, fuel stations, and footwear retail. Strengthening its foundational operations, the company expanded into California and Nevada by acquiring the Fox Markets chain. However, this western growth stretched the resources of the mostly East Coast-based retailer, leading to the divestiture of those 50 stores by 1972. In 1976, Pantry Pride further expanded by purchasing Hills Supermarkets in New York. Later that year, it acquired the remaining 17 Philadelphia-area outlets of the Penn Fruit Company.

Gradual Decline from 1978 to 2000

Financial difficulties beset Food Fair in 1978, culminating in bankruptcy that same year. A new leadership team headed by supermarket expert Grant Gentry took charge and began restructuring the $2.7 billion enterprise with its 456 stores. The initial phase of recovery involved closing all J.M. Fields locations by the end of 1978; these properties were swiftly acquired by Caldor, Jefferson Ward, and Kmart. Early in 1979, Food Fair exited its original Philadelphia market, where it had been headquartered, shutting down over 50 stores despite holding the second-largest market share in the greater Philadelphia region. Between 1979 and 1981, more than 200 outlets and several warehouses were shuttered. In 1981, Food-a-Rama purchased 14 of the 48 stores located in the Baltimore area. By then, Food Fair had emerged from bankruptcy and was operating under Pantry Pride Stores, Inc., based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That year, negotiations took place for a potential acquisition by Supermarkets General Corporation (Pathmark Stores), but these talks ended after Pantry Pride shareholders lodged a complaint. Pantry Pride outsourced its wholesale distribution to Supervalu following the sale of its Miami and Jacksonville distribution centers. Subsequently, significant portions of its assets were divested, including two-thirds of its remaining outlets—among them all stores in Richmond, Virginia—which were sold to A&P. A&P continued operating these locations under the Pantry Pride name until 1986. By this stage, only around 40 stores remained in southern Florida.

In 1984, Pantry Pride expanded by acquiring Devon Stores, a home improvement retailer, along with the northeastern U.S.-based Adams Drug Company’s 400-store network. The owner of Devon Stores obtained roughly a 10.4% stake in the combined entity and subsequently sought to remove Pantry Pride’s Board of Directors. In 1985, investor Ronald Perelman gained control of Pantry Pride by acquiring a 38% share through financing with junk bonds. Perelman proceeded to liquidate Pantry Pride’s assets while retaining losses on its books to offset profits from his earlier acquisition of MacAndrews and Forbes. He utilized Pantry Pride as a platform to purchase other companies, most notably Revlon. By 1986, Pantry Pride had been renamed Revlon Group. The Delaware Supreme Court case stemming from this takeover—Revlon, Inc. v. MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, Inc.—has since become a landmark decision in U.S. corporate takeover law.

In 1985, Red Apple Group—a New York supermarket chain owned by John Catsimatidis—acquired the last remaining stores in southern Florida. By 1990, distribution for the chain was handled by Fleming Companies. The final store opened in Sunny Isles, Florida in 1991. At this point, nearly all locations had been rebranded as Woolley's after Bill Woolley purchased that seven-store chain during the late 1980s. Following a dispute with Catsimatidis, Fleming acquired Woolley's in 1993. The remaining outlets were either shuttered or sold off by the year 2000. Many stores retained the "Food Fair" name under new ownerships. An unrelated supermarket chain using the Food Fair Fresh Market name has operated since 2009 within the New York City metropolitan area as part of the Key Food cooperative.

Timeline

  • 1920s - Samuel N. Friedland, a Russian immigrant, together with his brother George I. Friedland, establishes Food Fair Stores in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
  • 1957 - Food Fair operates 275 retail locations.
  • 1958 - Acquires Setzer's Supermarkets, a Jacksonville, Florida-based chain consisting of 40 stores.
  • 1965 - Takes over J.M. Fields Department Stores. Additionally, the original ABC version of Supermarket Sweep premieres, filmed at various Food Fair outlets with Bill Malone as host.
  • Mid-1960s - Purchases Best Markets and the Pantry Pride private label brand; shortly thereafter launches discount supermarkets under the Pantry Pride name.
  • Circa 1967 - Acquires Fox Supermarkets in California and Nevada.
  • Circa 1972 - Sells off Fox Supermarkets.
  • 1976 - Acquires Hills Supermarkets in New York.
  • 1976 - Takes over the remaining 17 Philadelphia-area stores of the bankrupt Penn Fruit chain.
  • 1978 - Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection; control of the company passes from the Friedland family. Also divests New Jersey-based Pantry Pride stores.
  • 1981 - Emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganizes under the new corporate identity Pantry Pride Stores, Inc., relocating headquarters to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
  • 1983–84 - Disposes of its last two distribution centers to Supervalu, which subsequently sells them to Malone and Hyde and Winn-Dixie.
  • 1984 - Operates 122 supermarkets across Florida, southern Georgia, Virginia's Tidewater region, and the Bahamas.
  • 1984 - Acquires Adams/Brooks Drug Stores based in Rhode Island, encompassing approximately 400 drugstores primarily in New England.
  • 1984 - Purchases Devon Stores Corp., a home center chain with 61 locations near U.S. military installations; later sells its Virginia division to A&P.
  • 1985 - Gains control of Revlon Corp. as a holding company amid Ronald Perelman’s hostile takeover attempt.
  • 1985 - Samuel Friedland passes away at age 88 in Miami Beach, Florida.
  • 1986 - With only a few stores remaining in southern Florida, Pantry Pride sells its retail grocery outlets to John Catsimatidis, chairman of Gristedes Supermarkets (NY). Exiting the grocery sector, the company rebrands as The Revlon Group and moves its headquarters from Fort Lauderdale to New York City.
  • 1988 - Catsimatidis partners with Fleming Companies following Fleming’s acquisition of Malone & Hyde.
  • 1991 - Opens its final supermarket (Pantry Pride Food Emporium) in Sunny Isles, Florida; most other stores are rebranded as Woolley’s.
  • 1993 - Sells all remaining Pantry Pride/Woolley’s supermarkets to Fleming.

References

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  2. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).

External links

Template:The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company Template:Supermarkets of the United States

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