| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail (Grocery) |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Headquarters | Berkeley, California |
| Number of locations | 148 |
| Key people | Eric Lindberg & MacGregor Read, Co-CEOs |
| Products | Bakery, dairy, deli, frozen foods, general grocery, meat, produce, snacks, beer & wine |
| Website | groceryoutlet.com |
Grocery Outlet, first known as Canned Foods Grocery Outlet until 1987, is a privately owned supermarket chain. Founded in 1946 in San Francisco, California, it currently operates within the Western states of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, and Arizona.[1] The company was in the Texas market for a few years after buying the Yes!Less chain from (now defunct) Fleming, however all Texas stores have now been closed. It is a value-oriented grocery retailer — what the company dubs extreme-value. The company primarily operates stores under the Grocery Outlet name and was in a dispute with Albertsons over the use of the Lucky brand. Supervalu now operates 3 stores under the Lucky brand.[1]
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Grocery Outlet tends to carry overstocks and closeouts of name brand groceries, as well as private label groceries. [2] Some Grocery Outlets limit their meat selection to packaged products such as bacon, sausage, and bologna. Most stores do offer fresh meat, ground meat, and chicken in packages sealed by the processor. Produce is sold either by the unit or by the bag, with nothing being sold by the pound. Since Grocery Outlets buy mostly close-out or seasonal merchandise, there are only a few "must-have" perishable products that are kept in stock, such as milk, eggs, and bread.
In 1946, Jim Read purchased excess government surplus food products and put them into vacant stores, starting Cannery Sales in San Francisco. In 1948, Read and Nate Narin, his partner, converted the stores and company name to US Markets. Ten years later, Read sold out interest in US Markets to Narin.
In 1959, Read acquired interest in Big Bonus Foods, a 10-store California Bay Area chain, selling regular and surplus merchandise, as well as perishables. Globe of California was procured in 1970, and the name of both companies was changed to Canned Foods. The business concept became converted to factory seconds, closeouts, and discontinued products.
1971 marked a big milestone for the company: the first supplier agreement with Del Monte was signed. Canned Foods opened its first independent store in Redmond, Oregon. [3] Unfortunately, in 1982, Jim Read passed away suddenly; his sons, Peter and Steven, assumed management control. Soon after, the Frozen Food category was added. 1984 marked the celebration of $100 million in sales for Canned Foods, Inc., as well as the inclusion of the new Deli category. In 1987, the company started the transition to the name Grocery Outlet, to reflect a wider product offering.
The 90s were a period of great growth and achievement for the company. In 1990, they reached $250 million in annual sales. The company’s 100th store opened in 1995. In 1999, the Fresh Produce category was added.
Grocery Outlet acquireed the remaining liquidated inventories of webvan [4] and wine.com in 2001, as well as reaching their $500 million sales milestone. In 2002, the corporate name of the company was changed to Grocery Outlet Inc., which is what it remains today.