In the 1950s, Yellow Stores opened in Phoenix, Arizona as a small store selling Army Surplus items. It was founded by Jake Henegar. Mr. Henegar led the very prosperous enterprise through significant growth until his retirement in the early 80's. His acute mercantile skills and natural business acumen provided the public with popular priced goods and his employees a special place in American chain store history.
In the 1960s Yellow Front Stores added more variety to their stock and increased their locations. By the 1970s they had stores all over the Southwestern United States. They were, by then, selling outdoor gear such as hunting, camping, and fishing supplies, as well as work clothing - such as Levi Strauss jeans.
The chain's major brand vendors (such as The Coleman Company, Inc.) so admired Jake Henegar's skills, they frequently called on him for merchandising advice and general business counsel. Through these relationships, Mr. Henegar's influence on American consumer goods expanded globally and the strategic product concepts he put in place remain viable and profitable to this day.
Past Presidents of Yellow Front Stores after Jake Henegar's retirement were Sean Lee, Robert Bove, and David Stoup.
Yellow Front Stores were acquired by Lucky Stores, but operated as Yellow Front.
In 1987 there were 104 Yellow Front Stores in 8 states. Lucky sold the Yellow Front chain for $50 million during a hostile takeover by Asher B. Eshelman, a New York investor. The purchaser was a corporation owned by Kenmare; a private company owned by Daniel J. Sullivan.