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A detailed timeline on grocery stores and markets.
Small general stores and trading posts sell a variety of goods, including food items.
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) is founded, initially as a tea and coffee company.
Sainsbury's, founded in 1869 as a single London shop, grew to become one of the UK's largest supermarket chains, pioneering self-service shopping in the 1950s. It narrowly avoiding a £10 billion private equity takeover in 2007. And once operated its own freezer centers and a wine shop in Calais, France for British "booze cruise" shoppers.
F.W. Woolworth opens his first store in Utica, New York.
Montgomery Ward begins its mail-order business.
The Great Five Cent Store, founded by Frank Winfield Woolworth in 1879, pioneered the five-and-dime retail model and grew into one of the largest and most influential retail chains in the world before evolving into other formats. It eventually became part of the modern-day Foot Locker company.
In 1883, 23-year-old Bernard Kroger invested his life savings of $372 (equivalent to over $12,000 today) to open his first grocery store in Cincinnati, Ohio. He pioneered the practice of manufacturing his own products to control quality and costs, and introducing self-service shopping in 1916 when most stores still kept products behind counters.
Coca-Cola is invented by pharmacist John Pemberton.
Keedoozle, the first fully automated grocery store, is conceptualized by Clarence Saunders.
John Hartford becomes general manager of A&P, beginning its transformation into a grocery chain.
S.S. Kresge founded Kmart in 1899 as a five-and-dime store, and it grew into a retail giant that at its peak in 1994 operated 2,486 stores globally, surpassing Walmart and becoming the second-largest retailer in the United States after Sears. It later filed for bankruptcy twice and dwindled to just 6 remaining stores today.
Asda's founding companies are established in Yorkshire, UK.
Artie and David Wegman open the Rochester Fruit & Vegetable Company, which later becomes Wegmans.
Aldi's predecessor, Albrecht Diskont, is founded in Essen, Germany.
M.B. Skaggs started Safeway with just four grocery stores in Idaho, rapidly expanding to over 400 stores by 1926 when he merged with Sam Seelig Company and incorporated as Safeway Inc., choosing the name because it was the "safe way" to buy food without going into debt during the Great Depression era.
Clarence Saunders opens the first Piggly Wiggly store in Memphis, Tennessee, introducing the self-service concept.
Tesco was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen, who started selling surplus groceries from a stall in London's East End and named the company by combining the initials of a tea supplier (T.E. Stockwell) with the first two letters of his surname. It led to the creation of one of the world's largest retailers from incredibly humble beginnings.
Kroger introduces in-store bakeries.
A&P opens its first combination grocery/meat store.
Charles E. Merrill helps finance the Southern California grocery chain Alpha Beta.
Michael J. Cullen opens the first King Kullen supermarket in Queens, New York.
In 1930, George Jenkins mortgaged an orange grove to open the first Publix Food Store in Winter Haven, Florida, which grew into a successful employee-owned supermarket chain with over 1,300 locations today, despite never having had a layoff in its 93-year history.
Big Bear opens in Elizabeth, New Jersey, often considered the first supermarket.
Fred Meyer, founded in 1922 by Fred G. Meyer in Portland, Oregon, revolutionized retail with one-stop shopping centers. He used customers' parking tickets to determine optimal store locations through market research.
Koninklijke Ahold (now Ahold Delhaize) is founded in the Netherlands.
Albertsons was founded by Joe Albertson in 1939 in Boise, Idaho, opening as an innovative grocery store that offered free parking, a money-back guarantee, and even an in-store ice cream shop.
A&P operates 15,709 stores, the most in its history.
Carrefour, founded in 1958 by Marcel Fournier and the Defforey brothers, pioneered the hypermarket concept in Europe by opening the first store combining a supermarket and department store under one roof in 1963, after being inspired by seminars led by "the Pope of retail" Bernardo Trujillo in the United States.
Aldi was founded in 1946 when brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht took over their mother's small grocery store in Essen, Germany.The brothers split the company in 1960 over a disagreement about whether to sell cigarettes. With Karl believing they would attract shoplifters while Theo disagreed, leading to the creation of Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd as separate entities that now operate over 12,000 stores worldwide.
Sam Walton founded Walmart in 1962 as a single discount store in Rogers, Arkansas, growing it into the world's largest retailer through relentless cost-cutting and expansion. He famously flew coach and drove an old pickup truck despite being one of the richest people in America.
The UPC barcode is invented, revolutionizing inventory management and checkout processes.
Joe Coulombe founded Trader Joe's in 1967 as a quirky, tiki-themed grocery store in Pasadena, California. He was inspired by both the Tiki culture craze and his prediction that international travel would boom due to new jumbo jets, leading him to stock exotic foods for well-educated but underpaid consumers.
Tesco introduces the concept of superstore in the UK.
in the store and bathed using a water hose attached to their dishwasher due to zoning restrictions.
Costco was founded in 1983 by James Sinegal and Jeffrey Brotman, but its roots trace back to 1976 when Sol Price launched Price Club, which later merged with Costco in 1993 to form PriceCostco, only to revert back to the Costco name in 1997—a wild ride that resulted in the creation of the world's third-largest retailer known for its unwavering commitment to keeping its hot dog and soda combo priced at $1.50 since 1985.
Whole Foods Market, founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas by John Mackey and Renee Hardy-Lawson, began as a small vegetarian natural foods store called SaferWay. The founders lived in the store and bathed using a hose attached to their dishwasher due to zoning restrictions.
Safeway introduces the club card concept.
Walmart opens its first Supercenter, combining general merchandise and a full grocery section.
Amazon.com is founded by Jeff Bezos, later becoming a major player in online grocery.
Tesco launches its Clubcard loyalty program.
Publix surpasses $15 billion in annual sales.
Tesco enters the U.S. market with its Fresh & Easy stores (later closed in 2013).
Walmart becomes the world's largest company by revenue.
Amazon begins testing its Amazon Fresh grocery delivery service.
Amazon acquires Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion.
COVID-19 pandemic accelerates the adoption of online grocery shopping and delivery services.
Kroger and Albertsons announce plans to merge, pending regulatory approval.
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