United Supermarkets
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
United Supermarkets is a Lubbock, Texas based supermarket chain founded in Sayre,Oklahoma in 1916.
In 1949, the son of founder H.D. Snell purchased the Texas stores from his father, and concentrated on expanding in the West Texas area. The Snell family (now in the fourth generation) owns United Supermarkets to this day.
As of 2006 it operates 46 stores, under three distinct formats - United Supermarkets, Market Street and United Supermercado. All are located throughout west and north central Texas. It also has 26 stores throughout Oklahoma.
With annual sales of $1.1 billion and more than 8,000 team members, United Supermarkets differentiates itself in the highly competitive retail grocery industry through a strong commitment to service. In recent years the company started building Market Street stores in select locations that retain the customer service focus while offering more gourmet selections. The company started expanding out of West Texas into the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in 2003. In 2004, United cut prices on select items to match those of its closest competitors.
United Supermarkets was the lead donor with a $10 million gift for the construction of United Spirit Arena at Texas Tech University, the home court for both the men's and women's basketball teams. The company is a past winner of the International Council of Better Business Bureaus Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics and a two-time honoree by Texas Monthly magazine as one of the Top 50 Employers in the State of Texas. Its innovative UCrew program of community service volunteer teams comprised of store employees was recognized by Supermarket News magazine with that publication's first ever Community Service Award in 2004.
