Jewel (supermarket)

Jewel-Osco is a supermarket chain in the Greater Chicago area, headquartered in Itasca, a western suburb.[1] Jewel-Osco currently has 188 stores across northern, central, and western Illinois; eastern Iowa; and portions of northwest Indiana.[2] Jewel-Osco and Jewel are currently wholly owned subsidiaries of Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons. The company originally started as a door-to-door coffee delivery service before it expanded into delivering non-perishable groceries and later into grocery stores, and supermarkets. Prior to its 1984 acquisition by American Stores, Jewel evolved into a large multi-state holding company that operated several supermarket chains and other non-food retail chain stores located from coast to coast and had operated under several different brand names.

For the defunct Australian supermarket chain, see Jewel Food Stores (Australia).
Jewel-Osco
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryRetail
Founded1899 (1899) in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
HeadquartersItasca, Illinois, U.S.
Number of locations
188
Key people
Mike Withers, President
Productssupermarkets/food-drug stores
ParentIndependent (1899–1984)
American Stores (1984–1999)
Albertsons (1999–present)
Websitejewelosco.com

History
Jewel Food Stores logo until 1980.
Jewel Osco former logo

Beginnings with home deliveries

In 1899, Frank Vernon Skiff founded Jewel in Chicago, Illinois, as a door-to-door coffee delivery service. In 1902, Skiff partnered with his brother-in-law Frank P. Ross, renaming the venture the Jewel Tea Company. By 1903, they had six routes, then 12 routes in 1904 with expansion into Michigan City, Kankakee, and Kewanee.[3] There were 850 routes by 1915.

During WWI, the company faced soaring costs for materials and production. Compounding this, the US government commandeered a key Jewel production facility. As a result, by 1919 the company was experiencing severe financial setbacks. Within a few years, it returned to profitability through the leadership of new company officials: retired Commanders John M. Hancock and Maurice H. Karker, who had both gained extensive logistics experience as US Navy supply officers during the war.[4]

In 1929, the company built a new office, warehouse, and coffee roasting facility in suburban Barrington, Illinois, creating hundreds of local jobs despite the Great Depression.[5] The Barrington location served as the headquarters and main warehouse facility for both the home delivery and food store divisions until the completion of the new warehouse and office complex at Melrose Park in 1953.[6]

In 1949, deliveries were provided on 1876 routes in 43 states to customers mostly in small towns. Customers in cities could visit 154 company-owned grocery stores.[3]

Later, the service expanded to include 350 grocery and 10,000 general merchandise items by 1981 when Jewel decided to sell its "Jewel Home Shopping Service" division to its employees and divest itself from its roots.[7] At the time of the divesture, the division provided service to customers in mostly small towns located along 1000 routes in 42 states.[8] The division became a 700-member owned cooperative called "J.T.'s General Store" in which each route sales persons were independent self-employed agents.[9]

In October 1994, a group of the company's managers acquired the assets of "J.T.'s General Store" and "created J.T. Dealers Sales and Service". By 1995, "J.T. Dealer Sales and Service" was providing service to 60,000 customers along 250 routes in 35 states.[10]

Grocery stores

The company's expansion continued throughout the mid-20th century. In 1932, Jewel acquired the Chicago unit of the Canadian firm Loblaw Groceterias, Inc., then a chain of 77 self-service stores,[11] as well as four Chicago grocery stores operated by the Middle West Stores Company, and began operating them under the name Jewel Food Stores.[12] In 1934, Jewel Food Stores merged with Jewel Tea Company. In 1937, Jewel Tea Company purchased an eight story building in Chicago's Central Manufacturing District, which served as Jewel Food Stores' headquarters until 1954.[13]

The name of the parent company remained "Jewel Tea Company" until 1967 when the stockholders voted to change the name to Jewel Companies, Inc. to better reflect the expansion of the company into different markets.[14] In 1967, the company went public and its stock was traded on the Midwest Stock Exchange.[15]

Eisner acquisition and expansion south

In 1957, Jewel acquired the Champaign, Illinois-based Eisner Food Stores, located in downstate Illinois and later in west central Indiana (Lafayette, West Lafayette, and Bloomington).[16] This acquisition was significant since it was the first time Jewel maintained the new acquisition as a separate division within the Jewel organization with the acquired stores keeping their original names, setting the pattern for future acquisitions.

After Jewel's hostile takeover by American Stores in 1984, American Stores decided to save money by merging Eisner directly into Jewel, converting all stores to the Jewel name[17][18] and slowly started to sell off the former Eisner properties. One of the first properties to let go was the former Eisner warehouse facility in Champaign in 1986.[19] With the Champaign warehouse facility gone, many former Eisner locations became less profitable since they had to be serviced from the more distant Jewel warehouse at Melrose Park, justifying the elimination of those locations. The west central Indiana stores, three in Lafayette and two in Bloomington, were sold off in 1990.[20] Jewel also closed central Illinois locations that were formerly Eisner in Decatur (in 1995),[21] Champaign-Urbana (in 1998),[22] and Springfield (2006).[23]

Non-food retail expansion

In 1961, Jewel acquired two growing non-food related retail chains, Chicago-based Osco Drug stores,[24] and Brighton, Massachusetts-based Turn Style discount department stores,[25] to complement their food store division when building one-stop shopping destinations, such as the new Family Centers and Jewel-Osco (Eisner-Osco, Star-Osco, Buttrey-Osco) food-drug combinations. The acquisition of both Osco and Turn Style allowed Jewel to expand into non-food related retailing that would complement their existing food retailing business and also to expand the geographic range of its main food distribution business since the non-food companies had a different geographical footprint.

Jewel expanded into the home improvement retail market by acquiring Republic Lumber in 1972.[26]

1960s–1970s expansion

During the 1960s, Jewel expanded by acquiring several chains.

Jewel expanded their food store holdings by acquiring Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Star Market in 1964[27] and the Great Falls, Montana-based Buttrey Food Stores in 1966[14] to add to their existing Jewel and Eisner food store chains.

The acquisition of Star Market also gave Jewel control of Brigham's Ice Cream, which had been a part of Star since 1961.[28] Jewel later sold off Brigham's in 1982.[29][30]

In 1965, Jewel expanded into the convenience store business by opening Kwik Shoppe, a chain that was quickly renamed White Hen Pantry within a few months.[31]

Before 1970 Jewel stores were typically located on arterial city streets. Between 1970 and 1990, Jewel moved or expanded most of its stores to be freestanding buildings with ample parking. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Jewel built and operated many Jewel-Osco side-by-side stores, but most construction after 1983 consolidated Jewel and Osco stores together as one large store under one roof. Today, the two stores present to the customer as one unit; for instance, a customer can check out any items at Jewel or Osco registers, find Jewel and Osco merchandise commingled throughout the store, and can call one telephone number to reach their Jewel-Osco. However, each operating unit keeps its own separate marketing identity to the public as a "food store" or a "drug store."

The first Jewel-Osco food-drug combination stores were built in 1962.[32]

Jewel opened five stores in Michigan in the 1970s, but closed all five in 1996.[33]

In 1971, Jewel expanded their brand into Wisconsin by acquiring eight failing stores from Kroger and rebranded the stores Jewel.[34] After a decade of operations, Jewel closed all their stores in Wisconsin in 1980.[35] Those locations were sold to Sentry Foods. Jewel did not return to Wisconsin until 1998.

Until 2010, Jewel and Osco stores under the same roof have had separate operations, managers, ordering and receiving procedures, budgets, and employees. A 2010 cost-saving measure brought both Jewel and Osco oversight under one store director for each site.[36]

In 1978, Jewel Companies, Inc. attempted to acquire Skaggs Companies, Inc. through an exchange in stock in which Jewel would have been the surviving company and still based in Melrose Park instead of Salt Lake City.[37][38] A few months later, Skaggs turned down the merger offer.[39][40] At that time, Skaggs had 229 stores.

After six years, Jewel suffered many losses due to failing marketing concepts and general mismanagement while Skaggs became larger and strong enough to perform a hostile take over of Jewel under its new name, American Stores.

American Stores
A current Jewel-Osco combo store.

American Stores made an offer to acquire the Jewel Companies in 1984. The Jewel Companies, Inc. chairman Weston Christopherson was opposed to a merger and Sam Skaggs was forced to engineer a hostile takeover. On June 1, 1984, American Stores tendered an offer worth $1.1 billion for 67% of Jewel's outstanding shares at $70 per share.

For two weeks, Jewel's management refused all comment on the offer, maintaining its silence even at a stormy shareholder's meeting before which Jewel shareholder groups controlling 20% of the company's stock were in favor of negotiating with American Stores. On June 14, Sam Skaggs and Jewel president Richard Cline reached an agreement after an all-night bargaining session. American Stores raised its bid for Jewel's preferred stock, increasing the total bid to $1.15 billion in cash and securities. In return, Jewel dropped plans for a defensive acquisition of Household International Inc. and accepted American Stores' offer.[41] American Stores soon sold Buttrey Food Stores (in 1990),[42] Star Market (in 1994),[43] and White Hen Pantry (in 1985),[44][45] to pay off debt and for other reasons.

1990s expansion under American Stores

In 1989, American Stores expanded to Florida using the Jewel-Osco name, but operating as a separate division distinct from the midwest Jewel-Osco operations.[46][47][48][49] The Jewel name returned to Florida five years after the company closed all of its Jewel-T discount food stores in 1984. Florida was considered a good market for Jewel because of the high number of Chicagoans who had relocated to that state. After three years of operations, American Stores closed those Jewel-Osco stores and sold them to Albertsons in 1992.[50]

To consolidate the names of some of its subsidiaries under one title with nationwide recognition, American Stores renamed some of its Skaggs-Alpha Beta stores to Jewel-Osco in mid-September 1991. American replaced the Skaggs-Alpha Beta name with that of Jewel-Osco on all 76 stores in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas, expanding the chain toward the southwestern states.[51][52] Within six months, American Stores sold all of the Jewel-Osco locations in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Florida to Albertsons[50][53] but kept the locations in the state of New Mexico for a few more years.

In 1998, American Stores rebranded the Jewel-Osco stores in New Mexico to Lucky/Sav-on, a grocery store/drug store brand which American Stores had used in neighboring Arizona.[54] After the acquisition of American Stores by Albertsons just a few months later,[55] the New Mexico stores were rebranded again to Albertsons Sav-on in 1999.[56]

Under American Stores, Jewel returned to Wisconsin by opening a Jewel-Osco store in a new shopping center in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1995.[57] Jewel returned to Milwaukee in 1998 by purchasing a Pick 'n Save store and four Cub Foods stores and converting them into Jewel Osco stores.[58][59][60]

Albertsons and SuperValu

Albertsons acquired American Stores' holdings, including Jewel and Jewel-Osco stores, in 1999.[55][61]

Seven years later, parent company Albertsons and its stores would be taken over by two separate groups. On May 30, 2006, shareholders approved the break-up of Albertsons. All Jewel-Osco and Jewel Food Stores outside of Springfield, Illinois were now wholly owned by SuperValu. The Springfield stores were acquired by an investment group led by Cerberus Capital Management. Both of those have since been sold to Niemann Foods, an independent operator of grocery stores, supermarkets and convenience stores in Central Illinois which now operates them under the County Market brand. All free-standing Osco drugstores are now owned by CVS Pharmacy. The Osco name is still used for pharmacies within Albertsons, Jewel, Star Market and Shaw's.

SuperValu announced on January 5, 2007, that it would offer for sale its Jewel-Osco stores in the Milwaukee area.[62][63] Pick 'n Save agreed to take five of the 15 stores.[64] Two other stores were purchased by Lena's Food Market.[65] SuperValu announced to its workers that the remaining stores, if unsold, would close at the end of March.[66]

In 2008, the headquarters for the Illinois-based Jewel-Osco division was moved from Melrose Park to Itasca.[67]

Jewel Express

In 1997, Albertsons experimented by adding gas pumps and a small convenience store in front one of its stores in Eagle, Idaho.[68][69] Since the experiment was successful, Albertsons decided to expand this concept to all stores that would be able to support it and was allowed by local governmental zoning. The new concept was called Albertsons Express.

After Albertsons acquired American Stores in 1999, Albertsons wanted to expand the Albertsons Express concept to the former American Stores chains.[70] The first Jewel Express was opened in front of a Jewel-Osco in South Elgin in October 2000.[71][72]

In attempt to increase revenue in 2009, Supervalu enhanced the Express concept by enlarging the convenience store, added more marketing tie ins with the main store, and even added a car wash.[73] This change did not help Supervalu's bottom line so in 2011 Supervalu announced that it was exiting the fuel business and that it would sell or close all fuel stations that it received when it purchased Albertsons which includes the 29 Jewel Express stations that it received. The same announcement said that 27 of the Jewel Express locations would be sold to Alimentation Couche-Tard, the parent of Circle K, and all remaining unsold locations would be closed.[74][75] Some of these new Circle K locations were paired with the Shell fuel brand.[76]

Urban Fresh

In 2008, SuperValu converted one of its closed Sunflower Market stores on Clybourn Avenue to an Urban Fresh by Jewel, a smaller store than the usual Jewel, with more upscale and organic products.[77] It was announced that this store would close on October 31, 2009, and there are no plans to open more stores under this banner.[78]

LEED certified

In October 2008, Jewel-Osco opened its first LEED certified store at Kinzie & Des Plaines in Chicago.[79] This new store was built with recycled materials and recycled 98% of its construction debris. It features a rooftop garden, uses water-saving devices, has non-ozone-depleting refrigerants in cooling equipment, uses a refrigerant detection system, and has energy efficient lighting.

Today
Jewel-Osco locations in purple, ACME in red, Shaw's in orange, and Albertsons in blue (1995–2007)

Jewel-Osco employs more than 45,000 associates. Its customer base gave it a 45% share of the grocery market in Chicago,[61] trailed by the Safeway Inc.-owned Dominick's chain (ranking second at 15 percent) before its closure.[80] Consumers from 80% of all households in the Chicago metropolitan area visit a Jewel-Osco store at least once a month.[81]

On January 10, 2013, SuperValu announced the sale of Jewel food stores to Cerberus Capital Management in a $3.3 billion deal.[82][83] The deal closed on March 21, 2013.[84]

Acquisition of Strack & Van Til

On May 15, 2017, Jewel-Osco made a bid to purchase all 19 Strack & Van Til grocery stores for $100 million.[85] The Jewel-Osco bid was ultimately unsuccessful and the stores were sold in the bankruptcy auction to the Strack and Van Til families and the Indiana Grocery Group.

Past ventures

Over the years, Jewel has tried other concepts and ideas. It is credited with selling the first generic brand product line in 1977.[86] The packaging had no name or pictures — just a list of contents, UPC, and required nutritional information on a white package with a pseudo-army-surplus, olive-green stripe. The generic line was given the brand "Econo Buy" in the early 1990s.

Jewel Grand Bazaar

In 1973, Jewel Companies opened an experimental Jewel Grand Bazaar, on the southwest side of Chicago; a store that encompassed an entire city block at the northwest corner of 54th Street and Pulaski Road.[87][88] This store featured bulk packaging, free samples on weekends, and 24-hour service. See photos: photos This experimental store was in service from 1973 until the 1980s, when it was reformatted as a standard Jewel-Osco combo store. A second Grand Bazaar was opened in 1974 at 87 W. 87th St in Chicago[89] and in 1977, a "Jewel Grand Bazaar" was opened at 6505 W. Diversey in the Brickyard Mall. A fourth location was opened in Franklin Park in 1975.[90]

During the 1990s, the Diversey Avenue Grand Bazaar was reformatted to a regular Jewel grocery store, but continued to carry some of the traditional "Grand Bazaar" features such as bulk foods. With the reconstruction of the Brickyard Mall in 2003, the Grand Bazaar store was demolished and replaced with a smaller Jewel grocery store. Rockford, Illinois also had a Jewel Grand Bazaar. There was also one on Grand Ave. and Kostner Ave. on Chicago's West side. The last "Grand Bazaar" format store was opened in 1975 at Grand ave. and Mannheim road in Franklin Park, Illinois. This building is currently being operated as a Jewel-Osco. Neither the Chicago Tribune nor the Chicago Sun-Times record when these stores were actually converted or closed.

Turn Style
Main article: Turn Style

In 1961, Jewel Companies, then Jewel Tea, acquired a chain of discount stores in the Chicago area called Turn Style. This chain was moderately successful throughout the 1960s. Some locations were combined with Jewel's supermarket brands to form Family Centers. In 1978, 19 of 22 locations were sold to May Department Stores and converted to the Venture format.[91][92] Other stores were converted into large Osco Drug Stores.

Jewel T

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Jewel Companies operated a no-frills grocery chain called Jewel T. The typical store tend to be rather small, 8,000 square feet instead of the typical 30,000 for a full-service supermarket, with a selection rather limited to canned and dry foods and non-perishable, but everything sold at a steep discount.[93]

To avoid cannibalizing sales from their existing markets in the Midwest and North East Atlantic States, the first Jewel T location was opened in New Port Richey, Florida in 1977,[94] quickly followed by 2 other stores in the St. Petersburg area during the same year.[95] Jewel T expanded into Pennsylvania in 1978 and many suburban Philadelphia kids in this gas crisis era remember mom driving the Vega or Pinto out to Jewel T, and bringing back powdered milk, frozen pretzels, and bulk frozen cherry pielettes.[96] They expanded to Atlanta in 1979.[97] Jewel T had approximately 30 stores in two states at the beginning of 1979[97] and 44 stores in four states by the following June.[98]

By the end of 1979, Jewel T had 87 stores located in the states of Florida, Georgia, Texas, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Alabama.[99] In the first month of 1980, Jewel T opened eight stores in highly competitive Southern California.[100] In 1981, Jewel T opened stores in Atlanta[101] and its 150th store in Louisiana.[102]

At its height in 1981, Jewel T operated 150 stores in 10 states located mainly in the Mid-Atlantic, South East, the Gulf Coast, the Deep South, and also Southern California. At the same time it began to start having problems in competing against the full service supermarkets which fought back by dropping prices, in some cases at or below costs, on the same limited items that Jewel T and other discount food stores specialized in stocking.[103] Within a few years, the company began to sell unprofitable locations. By the beginning of 1984, approximately 131 locations remained.[104]

In March 1984, the company closed all 21 Jewel T stores in Southern California.[104] Seven of the leases and most of the inventory was sold to the 99 Cents Only Stores.[105]

A few months later, 105 stores remained when the chain was finally sold off in two separate transactions in June 1984, 28 stores in Texas were sold to a group of managers while the other 77 stores in Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey were sold to Save-A-Lot.[93][106]

Republic Lumber

Jewel Companies expanded into the hardware and home improvement business by acquiring Republic Lumber in 1972.[26] In 1979, Jewel, under the Osco division, sold four of its five Republic Lumber locations to R & L Lumber, parent company of Handy Andy Home Improvement Center, and closed the fifth.[107] They were located on the west side of Chicago at 4052 W. Grand Ave (a former Jewel opened in 1957 to celebrate the chain's 25th anniversary), Oak Lawn, Arlington Heights and Chicago Heights. A fifth location in Norridge was closed early in 1979 when the lease was not renewed, which later became a Joseph Lumber location.

President's Choice house brand

As a subsidiary division of American Stores, Jewel-Osco began offering the Canadian staple President's Choice branded products in 1992.[108] President's Choice is a house brand created and distributed by Loblaw Companies Limited of Toronto, Ontario. Loblaw makes extra money by offering their President's Choice to other retailers who do not compete in their home marketing areas. Under American Stores marketing agreement with Loblaw, American Stores were the exclusive distributor of the President's Choice brand within each American Stores, marketing area. The marketing agreement between Jewel and Loblaw ceased when Albertsons acquired American Stores. In 2011, Supervalu replaced the house brand at Jewel with their own Culinary Circle and Wild Harvest private label brands.[109]

Organizational philosophy

A 1972 book written by Jewel senior leaders, The Jewel Concepts, stressed good citizenship within the community, "watching the horizon," and sponsorship of young people.

In an Illinois Retail Merchants Association online article, retired Jewel-Osco chairman Don Perkins reflects, "Jewel has a tradition of people orientation." One of these traditions came in the form of the "first assistant" philosophy of management.[2] Each higher-level manager was to see himself or herself as serving the employees he or she managed. On the store level, this would mean that the manager would be the "first assistant" to the employees by making personal contact and taking personal interest, solving problems, suggesting solutions, and using flexibility in order to best serve the employees' concerns. Then the floor employees' duty was to be in service as the "first assistant" to the customers.

Jewel also was progressive in creating partnerships with vendors, at a time when the practice was rare.

Stores

Current stores
  • Albertsons LLC owns these Jewel-Osco stores:
    • Jewel-Osco and Jewel stores (168 stores), located in Chicago metro area, including northwestern Indiana.
    • Jewel-Osco and Jewel stores (10 stores), located in Central and Western Illinois, Eastern Iowa.

Former stores
  • These former Jewel-Osco or Jewel stores are now owned by Niemann Foods and were rebranded as County Market
    • Jewel-Osco (2 stores) located in Springfield, Illinois (originally acquired by Cerberus)
  • All freestanding Osco drugstores (90 stores in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Wisconsin) were sold to CVS and rebranded as CVS/pharmacy.
  • The two locations in southern Wisconsin, located just north of the border in Kenosha and Racine, have both closed.

See also

References
  1. "About Us". Jewel-Osco Grocery Stores. Archived from the original on 2013-07-25. Retrieved February 14, 2011. Jewel-Osco Headquarters 150 E.Pierce Rd., Itasca, IL 60143
  2. "Jewel-Osco". SuperValu. Archived from the original on 2013-01-23. Retrieved February 24, 2007.
  3. "Jewel Tea Co. Celebrating Its 50th Year". Chicago Tribune. May 29, 1949. p. A7. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  4. Rear Admiral Frank J. Allston, ret., "World War I Supply Corps Officers Wartime Logistics Experience Benefits Food Company," The Navy Supply Corps Newsletter, May–June 1999.
  5. Peterson, Eric. "An Inseparable Part of Barrington History - Jewel Tea". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on 2003-01-10.
  6. "Jewel To Build Big Project In Melrose Park: Warehouse-Office Cost is 4 Millions". Chicago Tribune. July 24, 1953. p. C7. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  7. Key, Janet (February 1, 1981). "Jewel is severing a part of its roots". Chicago Tribune. pp. N1, N6. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  8. Brenner, Elizabeth (January 30, 1981). "Jewel plans transfer of shopping service". Chicago Tribune. p. C10. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  9. Heise, Kenan (September 30, 1983). "Betty McFadden, officer of major retail company". Chicago Tribune. p. B10. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  10. Mohr, Michele (May 14, 1995). "Special Delivery: J.T. Dealer Puts Service On The Doorstep". Chicago Tribune.
  11. "Hear Jewel Tea Co. Plans to Enter Chain Store Field In City". Chicago Tribune. February 5, 1932. p. 27. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  12. "Jewel Tea Co. Buys 77 Stores From Loblaw". Chicago Tribune. March 14, 1932. p. 27. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  13. "Jewel Tea Pays $432,000 in Cash For Warehouse", Chicago Tribune. May 16, 1937 Part 5, p. 18.
  14. "Jewel Tea Gets O.K. to Change: Acquisition of Buttrey Voted". Chicago Tribune. June 16, 1966. p. F9. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  15. "Jewel Listed on Midwest Exchange". Chicago Tribune. July 17, 1967. p. C7. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  16. "Jewel Tea Acquires Eisner". Wall Street Journal. March 14, 1957. p. 4. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  17. "Eisners have a new name and new look". Bloomington Herald-Telephone. May 8, 1985. p. 19. Eisner Food Stores in Bloomington opened this week with a new name. Jewel Food Stores. the name of the parent company, and a new look. Jewel purchased the Champaign. Ill.-based Eisner Food Store in the 1960s. The first Bloomington Eisner store and a sister Osco Drug Store was opened at 514 College Mall Road in 1970 and was remodeled in 1977. A second Eisner, which also included an Osco Drug Store, was opened in the Whitehall Plaza shopping Center in 1982. Jewel, the suburban Chicago-based regional chain of over 200 super-markets in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Michigan, was founded over half century ago, In 1984 Jewel was acquired by American Stores Co.
  18. "From the J&C Archives: June 29, 2015". Lafayette Journal & Courier. June 29, 2015. 19th (last) picture in image gallery. Joe Rupp, top, and Jim Volland, bottom, of Doyle Sign Co. in Chicago change the Eisner Food Store and Osco Drug sign, 950 Navjo Drive, West Lafayette, to Jewel and Osco. Jewel Food Stores Inc. has announced that more grocery items and remodeled departments are part of a new image the company is presenting this month while changing the three Greater Lafayette Eisner Food Stores signs to Jewel. Photo taken July 3, 1985.
  19. "Gateway will replace Jewel as Eisner supplier". Supermarket News. October 27, 1986. Archived from the original on September 4, 2015 – via Highbeam Research. Gateway will replace Jewel as supplier of products and services to the more than 60 independently owned and operated Eisner stores in Illinois. The Eisner stores had been supplied by Jewel's Champaign, Ill., warehouse, which is scheduled to close Oct. 31 and is for sale, according to a Jewel spokesman.
  20. "Jewel plans to close Bloomington stores". Bloomington Herald-Times. December 27, 1989. Bloomington's two Jewel Food Stores will close Jan. 10, the company announced late Tuesday. The assets of the stores - one at 512 College Mall Road and the other in Whitehall Plaza - will be purchased by Wetterau Inc., the St. Louis, Mo.-based food distributor that has a large warehouse and distribution operation in Bloomington. The east-side Jewel is expected to become a Mr. D's and the west-side store to become an IGA. Jewel came to Bloomington about 10 years ago when it purchased the Eisner Co., which operated the 512 College Mall Road store. The west-side Jewel/Osco opened in Whitehall Plaza when it was built.
  21. Kleine, Ted (January 8, 1995). "Jewel to close 2 stores - Osco Drug Stores will remain open". Herald & Review. p. A1. The city’s two Jewel stores will close Jan. 28, laying off 115 workers, the company announced Saturday. Both stores were formerly called Eisner. The name was changed in the mid-1980s when Jewel Food Stores, the parent company, was bought by American Store Co.
  22. Cook, Anne (April 6, 1998). "Jewel will close down two C-U stores after April 18". The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana). The Jewel stores in Champaign and Urbana will close for good after the business day April 18, managers said.
  23. Landis, Tim (July 21, 2006). "Local Jewels to close, reopen / Unidentified new owners plan month of renovations". Springfield State Journal-Register. p. 1. The two Jewel-Osco stores in Springfield are expected to close by early fall, apparently for renovation and new ownership.
  24. "Osco Chain Acquired By Jewel Tea". Chicago Tribune. February 25, 1961. p. A5. Osco operates 30 drug stores in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  25. "Jewel Tea Co. Set To Buy Turnstyle, Boston Area Chain". Women's Wear Daily. 103 (111). December 7, 1961. p. 6. Jewel Tea Co. Inc., the nation's 10th ranking supermarket chain, has reached an "agreement in principle" to acquire Turnstyle Corp., four self-service department stores in the Boston area. Harold P. Sparks, president of the Boston-area department store group, was elected a vice-president of Jewel Tea Co. Turnstyle would, in effect, become the third arm in Jewel's projected plans for self-service family centers combining supermarket, department store and variety-drug store units under one roof. The eastern firm will assist in the development of such combinations, the first of which is planned for completion next spring in Racine WI. In family centers, it will concentrate primarily on soft goods but also carry other products. Osco Drug Inc., a consolidated subsidiary of the Jewel Tea Co., Inc., is another major link in the family center concept as the food chain intensifies its diversification program in self-servicing. Osco will handle a line of general variety goods, including hardware accessories, small appliances, outdoor furnishings, and normal drug merchandise. Turnstyle opened its first store five years ago in Lynn, Mass., and also operates three other self-service department stores in that area. Link via ProQuest.
  26. "Business Ticker". Chicago Tribune. September 13, 1972. p. c11. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  27. "Star Market Merger Voted By Jewel Tea". Chicago Tribune. January 31, 1964. p. C7. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  28. "Star Market Co. To Make Exchange Offer to Brigham's". Boston Globe. November 8, 1961. p. 12. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  29. Mohl, Bruce A. (March 11, 1982). "Brigham's is sold by Jewel Cos". Boston Globe. p. 30. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  30. "Jewel selling Brigham's unit". Chicago Tribune. March 11, 1982. p. f1. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  31. Gorman, John (October 10, 1986). "White Hen falls into loving hands.: Spotlight White Hen". Chicago Tribune. p. B1. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  32. "New Store Sites and Openings". Chicago Daily Tribune. June 29, 1962. p. b8. Four new Chicago sites have been announced by the Jewel Tea company for two Jewel-Osco combination stores and for two single Jewel Food stores. A 23,000 square foot Jewel-Osco combination with a 12,000 square foot basement Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  33. Eliasohn, Michael (July 29, 1999). "Felpausch closing Napier Avenue store". Herald-Palladium.
  34. "Business Ticker". Chicago Tribune. May 20, 1971. p. E9. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  35. "Jewel to close 9 stores". Chicago Tribune. October 15, 1980. p. c7. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  36. Sterrett, David (February 20, 2010). "Jewel-Osco slicing 110 managers from groceries". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
  37. Winski, Joseph (April 4, 1978). "Jewel, Skaggs to merge drug, food operations". Chicago Tribune. p. C6. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  38. Gruber, William (April 5, 1978). "Jewel expects trust probe in Skaggs merger". Chicago Tribune. p. C10. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  39. Elsner, David M. (June 15, 1978). "Jewel, Skaggs merger talks called off". Chicago Tribune. p. C7. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  40. Winski, Joseph (June 22, 1978). "Jewel won't seek any mergers--now". Chicago Tribune. p. C7. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  41. Greenhouse, Steven (June 15, 1984). "New American Bid Gets Jewel". New York Times.
  42. "American Stores Sells Buttrey Unit". New York Times. August 16, 1990.
  43. "American Stores to Sell Star Market for $285 Million". New York Times. August 4, 1994.
  44. Greenberg, Herb (October 2, 1984). "White Hen Pantry chain to be sold". Chicago Tribune. p. B1. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  45. Gorman, John (March 12, 1985). "White Hen stores sold to management group". Chicago Tribune. p. B1. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  46. Jewel Osco dazzles Tampa with sparkling new format, Drug Store News, April 3, 1989. Archived October 1, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  47. Roberts, Elizabeth (November 6, 1989). "Benito Rebounds From Losing Publix Account". Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel.
  48. Sanders, Jacquin (March 19, 1989). "What makes people love a superstore?". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1B. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  49. Albright, Mark (March 13, 1989). "Glitzy store debuts in tight market // Jewel Osco testing prototype in bay area". St. Petersburg Times. p. 7. Link via ProQuest.
  50. "Albertson's to Buy 74 Jewel-osco Stores In 4 States". Deseret News. January 29, 1992. Albertson's Inc. has agreed to buy 74 of American Stores Co.'s Jewel-Osco food and drug stores in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Florida, plus a merchandise warehouse in Ponca City, Okla.
  51. Denton, Jon (August 28, 1991). "Skaggs Alpha Beta Set to Change Name". The Oklahoman.
  52. "Today's digest: Skaggs now a Jewel". Austin American Statesman. September 19, 1991. p. F1. Skaggs Alpha Beta, a chain of 76 grocery and drug stores in the Southwest, has changed names to match subsidiaries of its parent company. Jewel Osco is now the name of the stores in Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. The Richardson-based chain is owned by American Stores Cos. of Salt Lake City, which also owns Jewel Food Stores and Osco Drug Stores. The name change will improve company efficiency by allowing it to use private label products from both Jewel and Osco, said Michael Miller, president of the Skaggs division that will now be called Jewel Southern. Link via ProQuest.
  53. "Retailing". Los Angeles Times. January 29, 1992.
  54. Schwingendorf, Wende (June 4, 1998). "Jewel Osco, Osco Drug Now Sav-ons". Albuquerque Journal. p. D6. Banners were taken down at Jewel Osco and Osco Drug stores all over the state Wednesday, unveiling the stores' new names -- Lucky/Sav-on and Sav-on, respective
  55. "Food and drug chains unite: Albertson's to merge with American Stores in $11.7B stock and debt deal". CNN. August 3, 1998.
  56. Baca, Aaron (September 10, 1999). "Stores Get New Name". Albuquerque Journal. p. B4. The supermarket switch continues in Albuquerque as seven of the former Lucky Sav-on stores here have reopened this week under the new name of Albertsons Sav-on.
  57. Engel, Larry (April 11, 1994). "Jewel Considers Return To State At Kenosha Mall". Milwaukee Sentinel. pp. 1D, 23D. Jewel Companies Inc., which sold its supermarkets in Wisconsin and left the state in 1980, may soon return. ...could led to Jewel opening a combination Jewel Food Store and Osco Drug Store at a shopping center being developed in Kenosha. Jewel entered the Wisconsin supermarket scene in 1971 when it bought six Kroger stores in the Milwaukee area, and had plans to open as many as 20 stores. At one, time Jewel operated 13 supermarkets in the Milwaukee area. Jewel closed three of its 13 supermarkets in the spring of 1980 and that fall sold all 13 stores to the Godfrey Co., the Waukesha-based owner and operator of Sentry Food Stores.
  58. "Jewel scouting Milwaukee sites". Milwaukee Business Journal. January 12, 1997. Jewel already has opened a grocery-drugstore in Kenosha, the first Jewel store in Wisconsin since 1978, when the grocery store chain closed its last seven stores and sold them to two area retailers.
  59. "Jewel-Osco exploring central city supermarket". Milwaukee Business Journal. February 8, 1998. Earlier this year, Jewel-Osco announced it was buying five Milwaukee-area stores: a Pick 'n Save store and four Cub Foods stores. The company earlier had identified five other metro Milwaukee sites on which it planned to develop new Jewel-Osco combination stores. In the 1970s, Jewel built a chain of 13 stores in metro Milwaukee, but closed the last of them in 1978. Back then, Jewel Foods and Osco Drugs weren't linked.
  60. Gunset, George (January 9, 1998). "Jewel-osco To Buy More Cub Stores". Chicago Tribune.
  61. "Jewel-Osco information". Hoover's. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved January 17, 2007.
  62. Hajewski, Doris (January 5, 2007). "Jewel-Osco stores for sale". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  63. Schmeltzer, John (January 9, 2007). "SuperValu in talks to sell 15 Jewel grocery stores in Milwaukee area". Chicago Tribune. p. 3.1. The parent company of Jewel-Osco is selling its 15 Milwaukee- area Jewel stores in its first review of the 1,100 grocery stores it acquired last year. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  64. Hajewski, Doris (January 30, 2007). "5 Jewel-Osco stores to reopen Friday as Pick 'n Saves". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  65. Hajewski, Doris (February 2, 2007). "Lena's buying 2 Jewel stores". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
  66. Hajewski, Doris (January 24, 2007). "Jewel workers receive notice". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  67. Corfman, Thomas A. (January 28, 2008). "Jewel-Osco moving HQ to Itasca". Crain's Chicago Business.
  68. "Springfield Albertsons Looks To Add Fuel Center". Eugene Register-Guard. May 6, 1999. p. 1B.
  69. Knudson, Max B. (April 13, 1999). "Gas pumps coming soon to Albertson's". Deseret News. Albertson's has proven the concept works. It first added gas pumps in November 1997 at its store in Eagle, Idaho. Since then, pumps have gone in at Albertson's in Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma and Texas.
  70. Reid, Keith (October 2001). "Groceries and gasoline". National Petroleum News. 93 (11). pp. 18–27. For example, Albertson's has announced a 500-site goal in the next five years. Albertson's Chicago-area chain, Jewel Food Stores, is already ramping up for the gasoline offer. "The whole idea for fuel centers came to us when we were acquired by Albertson's in 1999," said Karen Ramos, spokesperson for Albertson's Jewel Food Stores that serve the Chicago area. "There were about a 150 Albertson's selling gasoline nationwide and we could see that it's a great convenience for customers to buy fuel while they're buying groceries. This program has been very much a success. Link via ProQuest.
  71. Gallun, Alby F. (October 2, 2000). "Dominick's set to give it the gas". Crain's Chicago Business. 23 (41). p. 3. Melrose Park-based jewel, the largest Chicago-area grocery chain, will open its first Jewel Express in the area on Wednesday. The gas station, built in the parking lot of an operating supermarket in South Elgin, will include six pumps and a 2,000-square-foot convenience store. Jewel expects to open three more gas stations by yearend, and has targeted as many as 30 Chicago-area sites for development. Link via ProQuest.
  72. "Jewel-Osco Joins Fight Against Diabetes". PR Newswire. November 2, 2000. p. 1. Jewel-Osco is the only Midwest retailer operating both combination food and drug stores and freestanding drug stores. Of the retailer's 275 locations, 191 are combination Jewel-Osco stores and 84 are freestanding Osco Drug stores. The first Jewel Express fuel center opened in South Elgin in October of 2000. Jewel-Osco is the Midwest Region of Albertson's, Inc. Link via ProQuest.
  73. Holtz, Steve (December 23, 2009). "New Store: Jewel Express: Prototype focuses on foodservice, private label and connection to main store". CSP Daily News.
  74. "Jewel-Osco gas stations sold as parent Supervalu looks to lower costs". Crain's Chicago Business. September 7, 2011.
  75. Freeman, Chris (October 10, 2011). "Two area Jewel stations sold to Circle K group". Northwest Herald.
  76. "Circle K to sell Shell brand gas". bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  77. Jackson, Cheryl V. (September 20, 2008). "Jewel makes 2nd try at small-scale store". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on September 21, 2008. Retrieved September 20, 2008.
  78. Jones, Sandra M. (October 23, 2009). "Jewel's Urban Fresh concept expires: Small-format grocery store in Lincoln Park to close". Chicago Tribune.
  79. "Jewel-Osco Opens Its First 'Green' Store". PR Newswire (Press release). September 25, 2008 – via The Free Library.
  80. Schmeltzer, John (February 13, 2007). "Roundy's joins Chicago grocery fray". Chicago Tribune.
  81. Gill, Peter (October 1999). "It's not only how he works, but how well he works with others that has made Greg Josefowicz the 1999 Illinois Retailer of the Year". Illinois Retail Merchants Association. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.
  82. Antinori, Shannon (January 10, 2013). "Supervalu to Sell Jewel-Osco stores". Patch Media. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  83. York, Emily (January 10, 2013). "Supervalu to sell Jewel-Osco, other chains to Cerberus group". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  84. York, Emily (March 21, 2013). "SuperValu completes sale of Jewel, other grocers". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  85. Pete, Joseph (May 14, 2017). "Jewel attempting to buy Strack & Van Til for $100 million". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  86. Stohs, Nancy J. (July 17, 1999). "A historic walk down the aisles of the supermarket". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2002-02-23.
  87. Schickedanz, Karen (September 28, 1973). "Jewel Grand Bazaar has a 'grand' opening". Chicago Tribune. p. C9, C12. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  88. "Jewel's Grand Bazaar draws 30,000 weekly". Chicago Tribune. March 20, 1974. p. C10. Jewel Companies, Onc.'s first Grand Bazaar, which opened last September is serving 30,000 customers a week. The store, at 5320 S. Pulaski Rd., is expected to have food sales of "close to $20 million a year." ...60,000 square feet of space... Jewel has two more Grand Bazaar units under construction which are scheduled to open this summer. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  89. Lazarus, George (August 16, 1974). "Hyperstores are 'Jewels' in the rough". Chicago Tribune. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  90. "Business Ticker". Chicago Tribune. May 17, 1975. Jewel Food Stores said it will open its fourth Jewel Grand Bazaar Thursday. The facility - the first suburban Grand Bazaar-is the new Frand Plaza Shopping Center in Franklin Park. It will replace the existing store next door at 10135 W. Grand Av. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  91. Lazarus, George (March 8, 1978). "Jewel to sell Turn Styles". Chicago Tribune. p. C7. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  92. "Venture to acquire 19 stores of Turn Style". WWD. 136 (46). March 8, 1978. p. 54. locations in Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Illinois. Link via ProQuest.
  93. Chapman, Dorothy (August 8, 1985). "Super Warehouse -- Newest Food Store Trend". Orlando Sentinel. Jewel Ts are by industry standards not warehouse but limited assortment stores. A limited assortment store is bare-bones, low priced merchandising that reduces services and carries fewer than 1,000 items with few, if any, perishables. The average Jewel T in Florida has 8,000 square feet of marketable space compared to the average size of a typical 29,600-square foot supermarket. Canned and dry foods and non-perishables are available at Jewel Ts, and limited frozen meat sections will be introduced in early fall. There are no fresh produce or meat sections and freezer space is fractional. In early September the 27 Jewel T stores in Florida will be renamed Save-A-Lot Food Stores. Jewel T Discount Grocery stores in Florida and Philadelphia were acquired in August 1984 by St. Louis-based Moran Stores, Inc.
  94. Levin, Doron (April 6, 1979). "President of Jewel T credits feminism, but prefers to talk shop". St. Petersburg Times. p. 8C. Since 1977 when Jewel T opened its first store in New Port Richey, the chain has grown rapidly to 34 stores in Central Florida and Pennsylvania. Next month Jewel enters Georgia with three new stores in Atlanta.
  95. "Discount Groceries Tackle Supermarts". St. Petersburg Times. April 5, 1977. p. 7B. Already open are two stores, in New Port Richey and in St. Petersburg. A third store opens April 13 in Bradenton. First to open a few weeks ago was the New Port Richey store, with six cash regiistera in just 6,000-sq. ft. of a former hardware store in U.S. 19, and already Jewel has been forced to enlarge the parking lot to handle the customers.
  96. Lazarus, George (April 12, 1978). "Pennsylvania to get Jewel T". Chicago Tribune. p. c13. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  97. Lazarus, George (January 21, 1979). "Bargain stores booming". Chicago Tribune. p. N6. Jewel has 23 Jewel T stores in Florida and seven in eastern Pennsylvania. And Jewel T is about to crack the Atlanta market as part of an expansion. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  98. "Jewel discount marts boom, eye new fields". Chicago Tribune. June 24, 1979. p. E5. The new markets that Jewel intends to enter are Texas and California. The company already operates 44 Jewel T discount stores in Delaware, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  99. "Jewel T Grocery Store Chain, Begun In 1977, Now Has About 80 Stores Open". St. Petersburg Evening Independent. November 26, 1979. p. 11C. The first Jewel T limited-line discount grocery store opened in the spring of 1977 and today there are approximately 80 in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and Tennessee.
  100. Lazarus, George (January 4, 1980). "Jewel T heads West; is Aldi far behind?". Chicago Tribune. p. c8. Jewel T, one of the big guys in the limited-assortment discount grocery business, will open eight stores Wednesday in the greater Los Angeles area. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  101. Brookins, Portia Scott (August 27, 1981). "Atlanta's First Full-Line Discount Grocery Store". Atlanta Daily World. p. 12. Link via ProQuest.
  102. "High Interest". Lakeland Ledger. September 19, 1981. p. 4B. Jewel T Discount Groceries has opened its 150th store in LaGrange, La. The New Port Richey-based chain opened in 1977.
  103. Rouse, Ewart (August 26, 1981). "Troubles Mount for No-frills Markets". Philadelphia Inquirer. p. E01. Chicago-based Jewel Co. now operates 150 box stores in seven states, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, through its Jewel T. Discount division. ...What went wrong? Too much competition. If a big store cuts its prices in line with the box store, then the reason for the box store's existence disappears.
  104. "Jewel Closes 21 Stores In Southern California". Wall Street Journal. March 27, 1984. p. 17. Jewel Cos. said it closed its 21 Jewel T discount grocery stores opened over the past four years in Southern California. The stores weren't profitable. The company said it would continue to operate 110 limited-service discount grocery stores in Texas, Florida and Philadelphia. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  105. Cullinane, Kevin E. (November 28, 1991). "Not Small Change: 99 Cents Stores Thrive in Tough Times". Los Angeles Times.
  106. Lin, Jennifer (July 31, 1984). "Jewel-T Stores Are Sold Midwest Chain Buys Area Stores". Philadelphia Inquirer (Final ed.). p. C01. Moran Stores Inc., operator of the Save-A-Lot chain in the Midwest, bought the Philadelphia area Jewel-T stores for an undisclosed sum. In addition, Moran Stores bought Jewel-T's Florida division, which has 44 outlets in northern Florida and Georgia. The sale of the Philadelphia and Florida stores will mark an end of Jewel's discount food division. The company sold its Jewel-T chain in Texas to an employee group last month. It also had closed outlets in California and the Atlanta area. The average Jewel-T outlet is only 9,000 square feet; an average supermarket measures 20,000 square feet. Inventory of a Jewel-T store is limited and heavily discounted. An outlet has about 1,000 products on its shelves, while a supermarket may have about 10 times that number. Alternate Link via NewsBank.
  107. "Jewel sells Republic". Chicago Tribune. February 2, 1979. p. D7. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  108. Pratt., Steven (April 2, 1992). "New Brand: Jewel Tries An Upscale Approach With Its Exclusive President's Choice Line". Chicago Tribune.
  109. York, Emily Bryson (June 15, 2011). "Supervalu replacing Jewel store brands: Essential Everyday line expected to save money through uniform packaging, advertising, marketing and distribution". Chicago Tribune.

Further reading

Allen, Carl (April 23, 1987). "Jewel T Man's Visits Always welcome". Lakeland Ledger.

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