City Market (US grocery store chain)

Last updated
City Market
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Retail
Founded1924;101 years ago (1924), in Grand Junction, Colorado
ProductsBakery, dairy, deli, frozen foods, general grocery, meat, pharmacy, produce, seafood, snacks, liquor
Parent Dillons (1969–1983)
King Soopers (1983–present)
Website www.kingsoopers.com
www.citymarket.com

City Market is a supermarket chain operating in the Rocky Mountains of the United States. City Market, Inc. has its headquarters in Grand Junction, Colorado. It is a subsidiary of Kroger. [1]

Contents

History

City Market traces its origins to Josef Pruenster, an Italian immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1873. After initially living and working in Cincinnati, Pruenster settled in La Junta, Colorado, where he established a slaughterhouse before expanding into a meat shop and grocery store under the name City Market. His children participated in the family business, including four sons who would later establish the supermarket chain.

In 1924, Paul Prinster, the eldest of the four brothers, moved to Grand Junction, Colorado, where he worked in a Piggly Wiggly grocery store before purchasing an interest in a separate grocery on Fourth Street also called City Market. His brothers Frank, Leo, and Clarence subsequently joined him, and together they acquired full ownership of the store.

The Prinster brothers expanded their operations in 1939 with the opening of a modern supermarket near Fourth Street and Rood Avenue in Grand Junction. Following the Second World War, City Market entered a period of regional growth, establishing stores in Montrose, Delta, and other towns in western Colorado, as well as in New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. [2]

In 1969, the company was acquired by the Dillon Companies, making it a sister company to Front Range-based King Soopers. City Market and King Soopers became part of The Kroger Co. when Dillon and Kroger merged in 1999. [3]

Merger

In 2024, a federal judge blocked a merger between Kroger and Albertsons. During the trial, executives from parent company Kroger acknowledged that eight City Markets in Colorado had raised prices with little to no competition with 'little impact to business'. [4]

Stores

It formerly operated a location in New Mexico (located in Shiprock, on the Navajo Reservation), which was sold to Arizona-based Bashas in 2022. [5]

As of 2025, Kroger operated 32 City Market stores across 27 cities in Colorado. [6]

References

  1. ↑ "Our Divisions." Kroger. Retrieved on November 28, 2012. "555 Sandhill Lane Grand Junction, CO 81505"
  2. ↑ "Lessons in store: New book recounts history of City Market – The Business Times" . Retrieved 2025-08-22.
  3. ↑ Prinster, Anthony F. (2025-01-22). The History of City Market: The Brothers Four and the Colorado Back Slope Empire. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN   978-1-62584-772-0.
  4. ↑ Chuang, Tamara (2024-10-21). "By the numbers: Colorado's antitrust trial to block the Kroger-Albertsons merger". The Colorado Sun. Retrieved 2025-08-22.
  5. ↑ "Bashas' Diné Market replaces longtime City Market in Shiprock, N.M." www.supermarketnews.com. Retrieved 2025-08-22.
  6. ↑ Trela, Nate. "King Soopers, City Market parent is shuttering stores nationwide. Could your store close?". Fort Collins Coloradoan. Retrieved 2025-08-22.
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