 |
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1932 |
| Defunct | 2016 |
| Headquarters | Carrollton, Texas, United States |
Key people | Frances Nelson, President Bill Davidson General Manager |
| Products | Grocery |
| Revenue |  US$665 million 2009 |
Number of employees | ~1,500 |
RLS Supermarkets LLC, doing business as Minyard Food Stores, was a privately owned supermarket chain in Texas.
The history of Minyard Food Stores dates back to the 1930s. A.W. "Eck" Minyard, a postal employee, purchased a store at 6011 Lindsley Avenue in East Dallas for $1,200. His primary motivation for the purchase was to provide jobs for his two younger brothers, H.C. "Henry" and M.T. "Buddy" Minyard, who had just completed high school. [1] At that time, the country was in the depths of the Great Depression and jobs were scarce. On February 12, 1932, the first Minyard Food Store opened around the corner from the Minyard family home. [2] The clapboard store was 540 square feet (50 m2) in size. A.W. Minyard initially continued his job as a postal worker while running the store on Sundays. He would later quit the postal job to focus fully on the grocery business. His sister Fay and another brother, H.J. "Hap" Minyard had joined the others by the late 1930s. The store was successful enough to spawn the opening of another store and a convenience store by the close of the decade. When the United States entered World War II, the younger Minyard brothers joined the military. A.W. and Fay Minyard, closed all of the stores, with the exception of the original East Dallas location. After the war, a total of three new stores opened during the 1940s.
The 1950s were a decade of growth for Minyard stores. Six new stores were opened, including the first outside of Dallas County in McKinney in 1957. In 1959, the business opened its largest store to date in Lancaster. At 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2), the Lancaster Minyard featured new technology such as mercury vapor lighting, a 200-car parking lot, automatic air-opened doors, background music, and air-conditioning. [1] By 1960, the 11 Minyard Food Stores generated sales of $15 million. Additional sites were purchased for future expansion and in 1961, a 70,000-square-foot (6,500 m2) complex on Cedar Springs Street in Dallas became the site of Minyard's central office and distribution operations. By the end of the 1960s, the company had a total of 16 stores.
An additional 21 stores opened during the 1970s. By 1978, nine shopping centers were also owned by Minyard Properties, Inc. In 1979, a store opened in Mesquite that introduced bar codes and scanning to the chain. Plans for a new corporate headquarters were spearheaded by Bob and H.C. "Henry" Minyard. Henry, however, suffered a fatal heart attack on December 25, 1979, and didn't live to see the ground broken on the new complex. Bob Minyard was named president of the company. In August 1981, the corporate headquarters and distribution center moved to a 394,954-square-foot (36,692.4 m2) facility in Coppell, between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. By its 50th anniversary in 1982, the company operated 53 stores. That same year, a new concept store, the Sack 'n Save Warehouse Food Store, was introduced. The store, located in Haltom City, offered products in bulk at reduced prices. This new concept was considered necessary to remain competitive in the grocery industry, which faced slow growth during the mid-1980s. [1] In 1987, Minyard purchased 24 stores from Safeway Stores, Inc., which exited the Dallas-Fort Worth market. This boosted the company's presences in the area. A total of 12 stores were bought in Dallas County, nine in neighboring Tarrant County, and three in other counties. Minyard was able to reopen all 24 stores within a record five days. By the end of 1987, the company owned and operated 62 Minyard Food Stores and 10 Sack 'n Save stores. [1] Less than a year after the major acquisition, chairman and CEO M.T. "Buddy" Minyard died of a heart attack. Leadership of the company passed to his two daughters, Lisbeth "Liz" Minyard and Gretchen Minyard Williams and CEO J. L. "Sonny" Williams
In 1990, the company announced that it would open a new store format dedicated to the growing, mostly under-served minority population in ethnic neighborhoods. Operating under the name Carnival Food Stores, ethnic merchandise was offered in addition to traditional grocery products depending on the neighborhood it served. [2] Three Carnival Food Stores opened in Fort Worth in the summer of 1990. Two catered to African Americans and one focused on Hispanic shoppers. The concept proved to be successful and Minyard announced plans to open four additional Carnival Food Stores by late 1991. A total of 21 Carnival stores were operating by the end of the decade.
The 1990s were a period of increased competition in the Dallas-Fort Worth area grocery market. In addition to longtime competitors such as Kroger and Tom Thumb, new chains were also entering the market. The most notable entrant was North Carolina-based Food Lion, which planned on opening 50 stores in the area. Minyard focused on improving customer service to deal with the growing competition. Store expansion slowed, although new stores were opened in strategic locations. By the mid-1990s, the company had managed to survive the stiff challenges from other chains. Food Lion began closing stores in 1994 and exited Texas in 1997. In 1996, Minyard was the third-largest grocery chain in Dallas-Fort Worth, behind Tom Thumb and Albertsons. [2] In January 1997, the company entered into the gasoline business by opening two gas stations adjacent to two Minyard supermarkets in Dallas. By the end of 1999, the number of Minyard-owned gas stations had risen to twelve. [1]
Throughout Minyard's Food Store existence Minyard's would sponsor all local sports team in fact former CEO Sonny Williams and Gretchen Minyard Williams was longtime owner of the Dallas Sidekicks (1984-2004) from 1996 to 2004.
On October 29, 2004, after 72 years in business, the Minyard family sold Minyard Food Stores, Inc. to Acquisition Vehicle Texas II, LLC, an investment company conducting business under name Minyard Group. [1] Q Investments, the ultimate owner of Minyard, began selling off the stores slowly. [3] With its market share declining due to pressure from larger chains (such as Walmart putting full grocery stores in their Walmart Super Centers, and Target and Kmart doing the same), Minyard sold its 37 Carnival stores to a group including Houston-based Fiesta Mart, Inc. in 2008. [4] Minyard also closed or sold its Sack N Save stores to independent operators: the last one (in Denton) would close and the property sold to the University of North Texas.
In May 2011, 10 Minyard locations were acquired by RLS Supermarkets of Carrollton. RLS kept the Minyard name on all of them; the locations included Dallas, Duncanville, Balch Springs, Fort Worth, Irving, Lancaster, and Mesquite. [3] In late 2014, Minyard purchased stores from Albertson's and Tom Thumb as part of anti-trust settlements resulting from Albertson's merger with Safeway (Tom Thumb's corporate parent). [5]
In July 2016 Minyard announced the sale of all Minyard-label stores and two Sun Fresh Market stores to Fiesta Mart. The remaining Sun Fresh Market stores would be operated by RLS, but the sale resulted in the Minyard name disappearing from the DFW landscape with the exception of a single store which operated until August 17, 2017, which ended the 85-year old Minyard chain.
For a period of time Minyard had its headquarters in Coppell [6] (a replica of Minyard's original store, formerly at the headquarters location, was relocated to Coppell's Old Town area). At a later point Minyard had its headquarters in Irving. [7]
Albertsons Companies, Inc. is an American grocery company founded and headquartered in Boise, Idaho.
Jewel-Osco is a regional supermarket chain in the Chicago metropolitan area, headquartered in Itasca, a western suburb. In 2007, the company had 188 stores across northern, central, and western Illinois; eastern Iowa; and portions of northwest Indiana. Jewel-Osco has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Boise-based Albertsons since 1999. The company originally started as a door-to-door coffee delivery service before it expanded into delivering non-perishable groceries and later into grocery stores, and supermarkets. Prior to its 1984 acquisition by American Stores, Jewel evolved into a large multi-state holding company that operated several supermarket chains and other non-food retail chain stores located from coast to coast and had operated under several different brand names.
The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States.
Schnucks is a supermarket chain. Based in the St. Louis area, the company was founded in 1939 with the opening of a 1,000-square-foot (93 m2) store in north St. Louis and currently operates over 100 stores in four states throughout the Midwest. Schnucks also ran stores under the Logli Supermarkets and Hilander Foods banners. Schnucks is one of the largest privately held supermarket chains in the United States and dominates the St. Louis metro grocery market.
United Supermarkets, d.b.a. The United Family is an American supermarket chain. With headquarters in Lubbock, Texas, its roots go back to 1916, when H.D. Snell opened his first United Cash Store in Sayre, Oklahoma. The chain has grown to include 95 stores in 30 Texas cities and over 10,000 workers. In 2014 it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Albertsons.
Acme Markets Inc. is a supermarket chain operating 161 stores throughout Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, the Hudson Valley of New York, and Pennsylvania and, as of 1999, is a subsidiary of Albertsons, and part of its presence in the Northeast. It is headquartered in East Whiteland Township, Pennsylvania, near Malvern, a Philadelphia suburb.
Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. 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.
Central Market is an American gourmet grocery store chain owned by H-E-B Grocery Company based in San Antonio, Texas. Most locations also have a full-service kitchen, offer cooking and wine classes in their culinary school, and offer catering services. The chain has ten locations, all in Texas. Central Market was named "Outstanding Specialty Food Retailer" by Specialty Food Magazine and the National Association for Specialty Food Trade.
Shaw's and Star Market are two American supermarket chains under united management based in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, employing about 30,000 associates in 150 total stores; 129 stores are operated under the Shaw's banner in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, while Star Market operates 21 stores in Massachusetts, most of which are in or near Boston. Until 2010, Shaw's operated stores in all six New England states, and as of 2021 Shaw's remained the only supermarket chain with stores in five of the six, after it sold its Connecticut operations. The chain's largest competitors are Hannaford, Market Basket, Price Chopper, Roche Bros., Wegmans, and Stop & Shop. Star Market is a companion store to Shaw's, Shaw's having purchased the competing chain in 1999.
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.
Vons is a supermarket chain owned by Albertsons, with most of its locations in Southern California and the Las Vegas Valley. It is headquartered in Fullerton, California, and operates stores under the Vons and Pavilions banners. It was owned by Safeway Inc. and headquartered in Arcadia, California, before that company was acquired by and folded into Albertsons along with all of their subsidiaries, including Vons.
Tom Thumb is a chain of supermarkets in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It operates under the name Tom Thumb for traditional grocery stores and Flagship Tom Thumb for higher end stores in affluent areas. It makes up part of the Southern division of Albertsons. When combined with sister chains Albertsons and Market Street, it is the number two supermarket group in the competitive Dallas/Fort Worth area behind Walmart. The chain's distribution center is in Roanoke, Texas.
Bristol Farms is an upscale grocery store chain in California, United States. Founded in Los Angeles County, Bristol Farms operates 20 stores: 14 as Bristol Farms locations and 6 branded as Lazy Acres Markets throughout Southern California. The company is currently owned by Good Food Holdings.
Buttrey Food & Drug was a chain of grocery stores founded in Havre, Montana, and formerly headquartered in Great Falls, Montana. The company was founded in 1896 as a chain of department stores branded Buttrey Department Store. The company opened grocery stores in 1935 and sold off its department store division following a 1966 acquisition by The Jewel Companies, Inc. Jewel was sold to American Stores in 1984, and later Buttrey was sold off as a separate company in 1990. The company was sold to its main competitor, Boise, Idaho–based Albertsons, in January 1998 and the Buttrey name was retired. At that time, Buttrey was operating 43 stores in Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota with a revenue of US$391.4 million.
Ridley's Family Markets is a family-owned chain of grocery stores based in Jerome, Idaho, United States, with multiple locations around the Intermountain West.
Randalls operates 32 supermarkets in Texas under the Randalls and Flagship Randalls banners. The chain consists of 13 stores located around the Houston area and 15 stores located around the Austin area as of May 2020. Randalls today forms the nucleus of the current Houston division of Albertsons and is headquartered in the Westchase district of Houston. The office served as the headquarters of the independent Randalls company before its takeover and later the Texas division of Safeway. The Randalls distribution center was near Cypress, Texas, and now is serviced by the Tom Thumb distribution in Roanoke, Texas, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.
Fiesta Mart, L.L.C., formerly Fiesta Mart Inc., is a Latino-American supermarket chain based in Houston, Texas that was established in 1972. Fiesta Mart stores are located in Texas. The chain uses a cartoon parrot as a mascot. As of 2004 it operated 34 supermarkets in Greater Houston, 16 supermarkets in other locations in Texas, and 17 Beverage Mart liquor store locations. During the same year it had 7.5% of the grocery market share in Greater Houston. Many of its stores were located in Hispanic neighborhoods and other minority neighborhoods.
Until its closing in 2010, Simon David was the oldest gourmet and specialty foods store in Dallas, Texas. Simon David was a long-time specialty retail brand and division of Tom Thumb Supermarkets. Tom Thumb became a division of Randalls in 1992, which itself became a 112-store division of Safeway Inc. in 1999.
Haggen Food & Pharmacy is a grocery retailer in Washington State.
David's Supermarkets was an independently owned supermarket chain headquartered in Grandview, Texas, United States. Founded in 1964, David's operated 25 stores in North Central Texas and Northeast Texas, concentrated in very small communities not served by other chains.
