QFC

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quality Food Centers, Inc.

Type	Division of Kroger
Founded	1956 (Bellevue, Washington)
Headquarters	Bellevue, Washington
Industry	Retail
Products	Grocery
Website	www.qfconline.com

Quality Food Centers (QFC) is a supermarket chain based in Bellevue, Washington, with over 80 stores in the Puget Sound region of Washington state and in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. Founded in Bellevue in 1956 by Jack Croco, it was purchased by Portland-based Fred Meyer in 1997. Fred Meyer in turn merged with Cincinnati-based Kroger in 1999. QFC also bought Olsens in the late 90s.

QFC and Safeway are the dominant supermarkets in the city of Seattle and its surrounding suburbs. QFC is positioned as a smaller and upmarket relative to Fred Meyer, though both are owned by Kroger. QFC uses a preferred customer card to track customers and offer discounts.

In the 1960s, QFC ran a memorable animated ad which made use of produce puns, such as "raise our celery".

In 1996, Stuart Sloan, former owner and chairman of QFC, promised to spend at least $1 million a year for the next eight years to overhaul one of the Seattle School district's most challeged schools, T.T. Minor Elementary. The funds were donated in addition to public dollars and helped to pay for uniforms, smaller class sizes and a year-round schedule. It engendered much controversy as reported in a Forbes— magazine article.