What are the largest grocery chains by revenue in America? Grocery stores have some different formats which range from family-owned operations, boutique chains, to larger supermarket chain stores.
Headquartered in Florida, Southeastern Grocers is the second-largest conventional supermarket in the southeast based on store count. The company owns 756 grocery stores, 145 liquor stores, and 504 in-store pharmacies throughout the seven southeastern states Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) owns and runs organic foods supermarkets and currently has a market value of over $ 20 billion. The company operates 456 stores in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom. Did you know that grocery chains have an ancient history? Beginning as early as the 14th century, a grocer was a dealer in comestible dry goods such as spices, peppers, sugar, and cocoa, tea and coffee. These things were bought in bulk, hence the term grocer from the French “grossier” meaning wholesaler. As increasing numbers of staple foodstuffs became prepared in cans. Today, grocers deal in a wide range of staple food-stuffs including such perishables as meats, produce and dairy products. Such goods are, hence, groceries. In some countries such as the United States, grocery stores dropped from trading posts, which sold not only food but clothing, home items, tools, furniture, and other miscellaneous merchandise. These trading posts developed into larger retail businesses known as general stores. These facilities dealt only in “dry” goods such as flour, dry beans, baking soda, and canned foods. Perishable foods were instead obtained from job markets. Fresh meat was taken from a butcher, milk from a local dairy, eggs, and vegetables were either composed by families themselves, bartered for with neighbors, or purchased at a farmers’ market or a local greengrocer. Many rural areas still include general stores that sell goods reaching from cigars to imported napkins. Traditionally, usual stores have offered credit to their customers, a system of payment that works on trust rather than modern credit cards. The progress of supermarkets and other large grocery stores has meant that smaller grocery shops often must create a niche market by selling unique, premium quality, or ethnic foods that are not regularly found in supermarkets. A small grocery store may also compete by locating in a mixed industrial-residential area close to, and convenient for, its customers. Organic foods are also becoming a more attractive market for the smaller stores.
Check Insider’s Monkey list of 11 Largest Grocery Chains By Revenue in America and find out more about this topic.
