D&W Fresh Market
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| D&W Fresh Market | |
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| Type | Division of Spartan Stores |
| Founded | Grandville, Michigan, 1943 |
| Headquarters | Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| Key people | Roy Woodrick, Co-Founder Sid DeVries, Co-Founder Bob Woodrick, Former CEO Craig Sturken, Current CEO |
| Industry | Supermarket |
| Products | Spartan President's Choice Top Care Full Circle |
| Website | www.dwfreshmarket.com |
D&W Fresh Market is a grocery store chain owned and operated by Spartan Stores.
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[edit] History
D&W Fresh Market was founded in 1943 by Roy Woodrick and Sid DeVries. The first store was opened in Grandville, Michigan as an Independent Grocery Association (IGA) retail grocery store. It was one of the first grocery stores in Grand Rapids to sell USDA Choice Beef exclusively.
In the early 1960's DeVries and Woodrick created a new corporate entity for the operation by the name of D&W and designed the company's signature heart logo. Bob Woodrick, Roy Woodrick's son, became the president of D&W Food Centers in November 1967. Bob had a strong interest in racial diversity and solving racism issue during his tenure. After retiring to a more limited role in the company, Bob Woodrick ventured into the restaurant opening Bistro Bella Vita in downtown Grand Rapids.
At its peak, D&W numbered approximately 27 stores in West Michigan from Three Rivers to Fremont. In its final years Bob Woodrick served as the company's CEO and Doug Blease its President.
In the fall of 2005, D&W had a cross-company cut of labor resources and operations. This included the selling of the company owned pharmacy to Minneapolis, Minnesota based Prairie Stone Pharmacy, the closing of the 36th Street location in Grand Rapids, and over 100 job cuts. The store names were also re-branded from 'D&W Food Center(s)' to 'D&W Fresh Market(s)' for advertising purposes. It was revealed later that these moves were a part of the plan to save the financial resources and begin a new marketing campaign in preparation for a buy-out of the company by local competitor Spartan Stores.
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[edit] Spartan buyout
In December 2005, Spartan Stores announced plans to purchase the remaining 20 stores the company still operated for $45 million (US) claiming it planned to, in some way, retain the D&W name due to its heritage and recognition.
In February 2006, Spartan Stores announced that 10 of the newly purchased stores would continue to operate under the D&W Fresh Market banner. These stores included the Breton Village, Caledonia, Cascade, Gaslight Village, Grand Haven, Grandville, Holland, Parkview(Kalamazoo), Portage, and Rockford stores. Six other stores were converted into Family Fares, a banner name that Spartan had acquired in 1999. These stores included the locations known as Alpine, Breton Meadows, Burlingame, Fulton Heights, Jenison,and Kentwood. The four remaining stores; Northtown, Norton Shores, Walker, and Zeeland were permanently closed and put up for sale.
These decisions were based on market analysis, future growth potential projections, and location amongst other things in an attempt for Spartan Stores to remain competitive amongst larger companies in the area such as Meijer, Target, and Wal Mart.
Spartan's purchase of D&W was officially completed in April 2006. Each store has been renovated and re-modeled, some more than others, to comply with and reflect the Spartan look. The Grand Haven and Holland stores joined several other Spartan Stores in being open 24 hours a day for the summer season.
D&W's Central Kitchen was retained by Spartan and provides a variety of deli products in both the D&W and Family Fare stores. The company's catering business, Fresh Thyme Catering, was sold by Spartan to a locally owned catering company in Grand Rapids.
[edit] Company News
Spartan Stores announced on July 14, 2006 that it plans to construct the first new D&W Fresh Market in several years. It will be located at the southeastern corner of the East Beltline and 3 Mile Road in Grand Rapids Township and will serve as one of two major anchor stores in proposed Orchard Hills mixed use development planned for the site. This will be the first D&W newly constructed by Spartan and will serve as the new prototype for the D&W banner. The project faces some opposition from residents petitioning to reverse the zoning of the lot. If all goes as planned, though, the new store is projected to be opened in Spring of 2008.
Additional constructions of D&W Fresh Markets were announced by Spartan Stores in the latter part of 2007 and early 2008. Spartan Stores announced in November of 2007 that the Williamston Felpausch store that was acquired in June of 2007 will be renovated and expanded to 34,000 sq ft and be re-branded to the D&W Banner. As part of Grand Rapids Mayor's State of the City Address in January 2008, Spartan Stores announced the construction of a "Flagship" D&W Fresh Market on the corner of Fuller and Michigan Streets on the site of a Duthler's Market. Both stores are expected to open before the end of 2008.
[edit] Marketing Slogan
The company's current slogan is "It's a matter of taste."
Past slogans have included; "A nicer place to be!" "The Heart of Values" and "Great Food, Great Service, Great Place to Shop."
