National Supermarkets
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
National Supermarkets were the second largest grocery chain in both St. Louis, Missouri and New Orleans, Louisiana areas of the United States, both firms were owned by Loblaws of Canada. In June 1995, both National divisions were sold by Loblaws to Schnucks Markets. [1] Immediately after that, per the FTC, Schnucks sold the National New Orleans division to Schwegmann Giant Super Markets of Metairie, Louisiana. National itself had cemented the number two spot in St. Louis by acquiring several former Kroger locations and the Kroger distribution center in the market when the latter exited St. Louis in 1986. Kroger and National had been battling for the number two and three spots since the 1970s, swapping rankings several times over throughout the '70s and '80s.
National's logo was Loblaw's logo turned upside down to look like an "N".
[edit] National Supermarket Murders
On September 4, 1987 at the National Supermarket at 4331 Natural Bridge Road, shortly after closing, two men disguised as the cleaning crew made their way into the store where employees were preparing for the next day. They shot seven employees execution-style as they laid on the floor, killing five. To this day, this is still known as one of the worst mass-murders in St. Louis history.
[edit] National Supermarkets - New Orleans division
Operated 28 stores in the New Orleans area (in LA, Mississippi, & Alabama) under the following names:
- National
- Canal Villere (often referred to as "National/Canal-Villere")
- That Stanley!
- The Real Superstore
- The Real Uptown Superstore
The sale of Schwegmann's in 1999 to A&P(The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company) resulted in A&P consolidating to the Sav-A-Center banner on all but two locations which remained A&P, including the historic Royal Street A&P in the French Quarter. A&P downsized many Schwegmann's locations, eliminating many of the hardlines carried. On September 17, 2007, A&P announced the pending sale to Thibodoux, LA based Rouse's Supermarkets which more than doubles Rouse's size and returning many former Schwegmann's to being a locally based chain. At least one former "The Real Superstore" is still in operation as a Sav-A-Center.
New Orleans and St. Louis represent the last two divisions of National Supermarkets, aka National Tea, which originated in Chicago in 1899, making the chain one of the oldest in the USA. It was also one of the largest, ranking as the fifth largest in the late 1960s, only A&P, Safeway, Kroger, and Food Fair were larger. Canadian based Loblaw's Groceterias, LTD owned acquired the chain in 1955. Among the chains National acquired were Miller's(Mobile, AL), Standard(Indianapolis), and Applebaum's(Minneapolis). Besides the National and Standard banners, Big D and Del Farm banners were used in the Midwest.
Former divisions existed in Denver, Sioux Falls, Minneapolis, the Quad Cities, Indianapolis, Chicago, Youngstown, Memphis, and Nashville, making the chain the largest serving the Mississippi Valley. Major rivals included Jewel, Red Owl, Bettendorf-Rapp(Allied), Kroger, A&P, Dominick's, Eagle Food Centers, Hy-Vee, Marsh's, Winn-Dixie, Hill's, Fisher/Fazio's/Costa, Thorofare, and Safeway, depending on the market.
