| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | Summit, New Jersey, 1936 |
| Headquarters | Parsippany, New Jersey, United States of America |
| Number of locations | 24 stores (2010) |
| Area served | New Jersey |
| Key people | Judith Spires, President and CEO |
| Products | Grocery |
| Revenue | $405.9m million USD (2005) |
| Website | http://www.kingswebsite.com/ |
Kings Super Markets is a supermarket chain headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, with 24 upscale grocery stores in northern New Jersey and one in New York. Founded in 1936, Kings was bought by UK retailer Marks & Spencer in 1988 and later sold to a US investor group consisting of Angelo, Gordon & Co. and MTN Capital Partners LLC in 2006.
Kings operates today in a competitive market, operating in New Jersey alongside other chains such as ShopRite or Stop & Shop. Many features of today's mid-market stores have been offered at Kings for decades. The chain operates either in, or in close proximity to, affluent suburban towns, and its stores offer a mix of traditional and upmarket grocery items. Kings also offers "COOKINGSTUDIO" cooking classes at two of its locations.
In the 1980s, Kings was one of the last supermarket chains to offer traditional S&H Green Stamps.
Kings Super Markets was acquired by the British firm Marks and Spencer plc in 1988 but achieved little in terms of expansion into new affluent markets. Marks and Spencer plc later made a number of attempts to sell the chain, putting its desire to further invest in the chain into doubt. New York-based Gristedes made a bid for Kings, but the chain was eventually sold in 2006 to a US investor group.