Smith's Food and Drug

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Smith's Food and Drug, commonly known as Smith's, is a leading chain of supermarkets in the Intermountain and Southwest regions of the United States. Smith's operates over 125 stores in Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. Smith's utilizes a combination food and drug center format that strives for one-stop shopping.

Contents

1 History

1.1 Beginning
1.2 Acquistion by Fred Meyer and Kroger Merger

2 Smith's Marketplace
3 External links

History

Beginning

Smith's began in 1932 when Lorenzo J. Smith opened his first grocery store in Brigham City, Utah. When his son Dee Smith joined the business he began expanding immediately. Through partnerships and acquisitions Dee Smith built the company until his death in 1985. Later, Dee's son Jeff Smith became Chairman and CEO of Smith's. In 1989 the company completed its inital public offering and shares of the company started trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SFD. In the early-1990s, Smith's attempted a major expansion into the Southern California market which was completely unsuccessful and resulted in Smith's accumulating nearly $500 million in debt.

Acquistion by Fred Meyer and Kroger Merger

In 1997, the company was acquired by Fred Meyer of Portland, Oregon. In 1999, Fred Meyer was acquired by The Kroger Company. As a result of the Kroger-Fred Meyer merger, most Smith's Food & Drug Centers in Arizona were rebranded as Fry's Food and Drug. The Smith's Food & Drug Centers in Kingman, Lake Havasu City, and Bullhead City did not change, but remained in the Smith's Las Vegas Division.

Smith's Food and Drug is a division of The Kroger Comany, Smith's maintains its corporate headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Kroger Company is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Smith's Marketplace

In April of 2004, Smith's assumed the Utah operations of sister chain Fred Meyer. Five Utah Fred Meyer stores were converted to the new Smith's Marketplace banner in June of that year. The other Utah Fred Meyer stores that were located in Ogden, West Valley City, and Sandy were closed in April of 2004. Earlier, Fred Meyer closed a full-service store located in Orem that failed to meet expectations. Smith's Marketplaces contain a full-line food and drug store, with a full assortment of general merchandise, and Fred Meyer Jewelers.

External links

The Kroger Company

Net revenue: .55 billion USD ( 7.3% FY 2006) | Employees: 290,000 | Stock Symbol: NYSE: [KR] | Website: [www.thekrogerco.com]

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