Galbraith supermarkets

Last updated

Galbraith and Sons Ltd
Industry Grocery, General merchandise
Founded1894
FounderWilliam Galbraith
Defunct1987
FateAcquired
Successor Home and Colonial Stores
Headquarters,
Scotland, UK

Galbraith and Sons was a retailing company based in Paisley, Scotland. The company grew to over 220 stores, establishing their own food production plants to supply their stores. Galbraith's were acquired in 1954 by Home and Colonial, becoming part of the Allied Suppliers Group. Galbraith's survived as one of the Scottish trading names for Allied Suppliers until 1987, when it disappeared as part of the Argyll Supermarkets re-branding to Safeway Stores.

Contents

History

Stores

Galbraith's Stores first shop was established in Linwood Village, Paisley in 1894. Within 6 years the company had 12 stores and had expanded to over 59 shops by 1919. To minimise capital outlay the stores (usually located in Tenement Blocks) were rented, designed in a uniform style and had narrow shop frontages. The store network grew rapidly, by 1939 the company had over 159 grocery branches and 12 butchers shops. Along with a "provisions" window, staple items such as tea, sugar and bakery goods were advertised with the emphasis on price. By the time of the sale to Home and Colonial the store network had expanded to over 220 stores and was regarded as the leading independent grocery business in the west of Scotland [1]

Distribution

The stores were originally served by a single warehouse (in Paisley). As the store network grew a second warehouse was added (in Glasgow) closely followed by a third warehouse (across the River Clyde in Govan, Glasgow).

Manufacturing

Manufacturing was a key success to their growth. By owning their manufacturing, the company increased the profitability and secured supplies to their stores. The company established a bakery in 1895 at George Street, Paisley) to supply their own stores following a dispute with their former supplier, J and J Swann. By 1911 a second bakery was added in Govan to supply the Glasgow branches. Meat Production was established at the George Street warehouse in 1896 when two ham curers were employed, closely followed by sausage making. Tea blending (by hand) was undertaken by Galbraith's (one of the few retailers to purchase tea directly and blend). Preserve manufacturing (and pickle manufacturing) was added in 1918 following a dispute with James Robertson.

Acquisition

The company was acquired in 1954 by Home and Colonial Stores for £2,340,000.00, becoming a principal Scottish subsidiary of the Allied Suppliers network. Under Allied Suppliers the bakery and pickle factory were quickly sold to their respective management. By 1956 the sausage and cooked meats factory was transferred to the Richmond Sausage Company (becoming their major regional Scottish factory). Allied Suppliers preserve manufacturing was concentrated at Galbraith's Paisley premises.

Trading name

The company was formed as Galbraith and Sons Limited (in 1894), the name was later changed to Galbraith's Stores Limited and survived as a trading subsidiary of Argyll Supermarkets (along with R&J Templeton) until 1987 [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supermarket</span> Large format of grocery store

A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more limited in the range of merchandise than a hypermarket or big-box market. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is often used to mean "supermarket".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grocery store</span> Retail store that primarily sells food and other household supplies

A grocery store (AE), grocery shop (BE) or simply grocery is a foodservice retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, and is not used to refer to other types of stores that sell groceries. In the UK, shops that sell food are distinguished as grocers or grocery shops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bakery</span> Type of business that sells flour-based food

A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to consume the baked goods on the premises. Confectionery items are also made in most bakeries throughout the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A&P</span> Defunct American grocery store chain

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, was an American chain of grocery stores that operated from 1859–2015. From 1915 through 1975, A&P was the largest grocery retailer in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Safeway</span> American supermarket chain owned by Albertsons Companies, Inc

Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops and fuel centers. It is a subsidiary of Albertsons after being acquired by private equity investors led by Cerberus Capital Management in January 2015. Safeway's primary base of operations is in the Western United States with some stores located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern Seaboard. The subsidiary is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.

Michael J. Cullen (1884–1936) was an American entrepreneur and salesman known as the founder of the King Kullen grocery store chain, widely considered to be the first supermarket founded in America. He is recognized by the Smithsonian Institution as the inventor of the modern supermarket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Low</span> Chain of supermarkets company

William Low plc was a chain of supermarkets based in Dundee, Scotland, until it was bought out by Tesco for £257M in 1994.

Brookshire Grocery Company is a Tyler, Texas-based supermarket chain. There are more than 200 stores operating in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma under their five banners, Brookshire's, Super 1 Foods, Fresh by Brookshire's, Spring Market, and Reasor's.

King Kullen Grocery Co., Inc., is an American supermarket chain based on Long Island. The company is headquartered in Hauppauge, New York, and was founded by Michael J. Cullen on August 4, 1930.

George Weston Limited, often referred to as Weston or Weston's, is a Canadian holding company. Founded by George Weston in 1882, the company today consists of the Choice Properties real estate investment trust and Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada's largest supermarket retailer, in which it maintains a controlling interest. Retail brands include President's Choice, No Name and Joe Fresh. The former Weston Bakeries division, which owned the brands Wonder, Country Harvest, D'Italiano, Ready Bake and Gadoua, was sold off to FGF Brands in 2022. The company is controlled by the Weston family, which owns a majority share in George Weston Limited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shoprite (Isle of Man)</span> Manx supermarket chain

Shoprite Limited is a community food store chain in the Isle of Man. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Isle of Man Enterprises plc, until Tesco announced their purchase of the business on 9 October 2023.

AppleTree Markets was a supermarket chain in Texas formed in 1969 when Safeway opened its first stores in Houston, which were spun off under the AppleTree name in 1988. The division once had 100 stores in Greater Houston and Greater Austin. By January 21, 2002, AppleTree had reduced its holdings to two stores in Bryan, Texas, where it had shifted its headquarters. One of the remaining locations was sold in 2009 and the final location, in Bryan at Highway 21 and Texas Avenue, closed in early 2012, marking the end of the chain.

SandpiperCI is a retail and food and beverage operator based in the Channel Islands. It mostly operates franchises of British chain stores, such as Marks & Spencer, Iceland, Morrisons, Costa Coffee, Burger King and Matalan, in British Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories. It also operates own-brand Checkers stores in Jersey and Guernsey and an Apple retailer called iQ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lipton</span> Brand of tea

Lipton is a British-American brand of tea, owned by Lipton Teas and Infusions. Lipton was also the name of a supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, owned by Allied Suppliers, which was sold to Argyll Foods in 1982, after which the brand was used only for tea. The company, which is named after its founder, Sir Thomas Lipton, who started the business it in 1890, was owned by Unilever for many decades until its sale to CVC Capital Partners in 2022. Lipton’s ready to drink beverages are sold by "Pepsi Lipton International", a company jointly owned by Unilever and PepsiCo.

Home and Colonial Stores was once one of the United Kingdom's largest retail chains. Its formation of a vast chain of retail stores in the late 1920s is seen as the first step in the development of a UK food retail market dominated by a small number of food multiples.

Presto Foodmarkets was a chain of supermarkets and convenience stores in Great Britain, which first appeared in the early 1960s. While the fate of most of the chain's stores was conversion to Safeway, the final stores still trading as Presto were either closed or sold in 1998.

R & J Templeton Ltd was founded in 1880 by Robert Templeton. R & J Templeton Ltd styled themselves as "Tea Merchants and Cash Grocers". By 1910 the company had built a network of 50 shops, usually they rented corner sites in poor districts. Their key grocery products were "dry goods" - tea, cereals, flour, jams and confectionery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eisner Food Stores</span> Supermarkets chain of Illinois and Indiana, United States

Eisner Food Stores was a chain of supermarkets in Illinois and Indiana. It was acquired by The Jewel Companies, Inc. in 1957. The Eisner stores were rebranded as Jewel in 1985.

Fitch Lovell was a British food manufacturing, transportation, distribution and retail conglomerate with origins dating back to 1784. The company was purchased by Booker Group in 1990 for £279.7 million and during 1991 the business was merged into its parent.

Night 'n Day is a chain of New Zealand grocery stores. The stores operate long hours, and sell a range of ready-to-eat products.

References

  1. Retailing Revolution, Peter Mathias (c) Allied Suppliers Ltd, 1967
  2. The Grocers, Andrew Seth and Geoffrey Randall,2001