Market Basket
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- For the New England grocery store chain, see DeMoulas/Market Basket.
Market Basket is a grocery chain that serves southeast Texas and Louisiana. Formed in 1962, the grocer now operates 34 Market Basket stores and four Lucky Seven conventional supermarkets and employs 2,200 associates. It is headquartered in Nederland, Texas.
[edit] History
Johnnie Alford, Ed Hughes, Howard Hatfield, Roy Theriot and Bruce Thompson founded Market Basket in early 1962. Each was an independent grocer, owning one store each. The five grocers joined together in order to keep advertising costs low and pool their purchasing power. Three of the grocers remained one-supermarket operators while Hughes and Thompson formed a 50-50 corporation for joint expansion.
Thompson and Hughes bought four stores as partners in the 1960s. During the early 70’s they obtained former A & P, Kroger and Weingarten's stores in Lake Charles, Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange. In 1983, Bruce Thompson purchased Hughes’ interest in their jointly held corporation.
During the 1980s, two new stores were constructed, and the chain grew with the acquisition of 14 more stores formerly operated by Piggly Wiggly, Safeway, Theriot’s, Winn-Dixie, and Weingarten's.
The next decade saw Market Basket begin an extensive remodeling and expansion program for half of the chain. More stores in the 90’s were acquired, including four Cash and Carry locations and three AppleTree stores. The Mauriceville location was replaced with a newly constructed store during this time.
During the summer of 2001, the company purchased two Hughes Market Basket stores, in Port Arthur and Nederland. In 2002, the grocer purchased two Price-Lo stores in Vidor and DeRidder. Stanley’s in Leesville and Pair’s in Winnie were added, as well.
During the 1980's several supermarkets in Southern California operated under the "Market Basket" branding, before reverting to the "the boys" branding, a chain eventually acquired by "Ralphs"
