Sentry Foods
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sentry Foods is a grocery store chain operating in Wisconsin.
Sentry Foods stores got their start in the Milwaukee area of Wisconsin in the 1960's, being operated and supplied by the Godfrey family. Fleming Companies, Inc., at the time a major wholesaler, bought the majority of the stores and took over supplying them in the mid 1980's. Being predominantly a wholesaler, Fleming was never on top of the retail market, and due to a series of missteps and poor financial choices, Fleming went bankrupt in 2000 and was forced to sell off the remaining stores. Each individual store is now independently owned and operated. Terry Daniels owns and operates six: Janesville East, Janesville West, Whitewater, Elkhorn, Walworth and recently, Belleville. They are all supplied by Supervalu of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. [1]
Also, the Metcalfe family owns several Sentry stores, two in the Madison area, and two in Milwaukee, the latest was a re-rennovated Rainbow Foods store on 68th and State Street in Wauwatosa. Fleming Foods made the store nightmarish to navigate when it was a Rainbow Foods store and the village of Wauwatosa actually considered it an eyesore, due to the way other Rainbow Foods Stores looked, with concrete floors and cut-rate pricing, which did not fit in with the village's upscale image. The Metcalfe family remodeled the store over a one year period, also adding a small strip mall to the property, with an Applebee's restaurant to the left and the strip mall to the right of the store. An expanded beer and wine department was added to the store also, and made the store very strong against its competitor down the road, Pick N' Save (Roundy's)>
Sentry Foods was also known for its quailty bakery, and had its own bakery division, Crestwood. The bakery resided on Highway 100 and Greenfield in Milwaukee. After the purchase of the Sentry distribution line from Supervalu, the company felt that the bakery was obsolete and closed the division, selling its bakery recipes to Milwaukee based Grebe's Bakery. The former bakery building was sold off and demolished to make way for an Aldi store and a Culver's restaurant.
Sentry also benefited from the exit of the Kohl's Food Stores and Jewel-Osco from the Milwaukee Market. A few of the former Jewel stores were rebranded Sentry and contiued distribution with SuperValu. (Example: the location at Chase and Oklahoma Avenue in Milwaukee, it was a Cub Foods, then Jewel-Osco).
When A&P exited the market with the Kohl's Food Stores, the smaller stores were purchased by independent owners, remodeled and reopened as Sentry (an example is the former Kohl's store on 92nd and Lisbon in Milwaukee.)
The stores focus on the quality of their merchandise and emphasize customer service over low prices in their competition with Wal-Mart. Sentry stores are typically among the smallest and highest priced in their given areas, yet have their niche in providing quality meats, deli and produce to customers who would rather not have the hassle of walking around a large store. [2] The stores were formally marketed under the Supersaver, Rainbow Foods and Sun Foods banners. SuperSaver stores were generally the largest Sentry stores, while Rainbow stores were stripped down, low cost affairs. A number of stores have closed due to competition with Pick `n Save (Roundy's), Wal-Mart and ALDI. When Jewel Osco owned by Supervalu closed its stores in Wisconsin Albercht's Sentry Foods took over two Stores in the providences of Raicne and Kenosha Counties, in May of 2007, making its debut which became more of a debt then a profit Shortly after its Grand opening (aproximetely six months) Albretch's Sentry Foods closed its Sentry Foods Store in Kenosha Wisconsin and its Raicine Store is still in debut.
