| Farmer Jack |
Article Index for Farmer |
Website Links For Farmer |
Information AboutFarmer Jack |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT FARMER JACK | |
| aamp;p | |
| companies based in michigan | |
| supermarkets of the united states | |
|
.]] Farmer Jack is a Grocery Store chain in southeastern Michigan , especially suburban Detroit , and Ohio . Farmer Jack is part of the larger nationwide chain of A&P (Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.) stores. Farmer Jack employs about 9,500. The company dates to 1924, when Jewish Russian immigrant Tom Borman opened a neighborhood grocery store, Tom's Quality Meats, at 12th and Forest in Detroit. In 1927, his brother Abraham "Al" Borman started his own store on Kercheval on the city's east side. The brothers eventually formed a partnership. The brothers split up in 1945, with Tom developing Lucky Stores and Al developing of Ferndale, MI American Stores Inc., acquired nine Lipson-Gourwitz Co. markets in Detroit and planned an expansion to 46 stores. In 1966, Borman announced the opening of three suburban shopping centers that would contain gas stations, car washes, garden supply stores, Yankee Discount Stores And Food Stores -- operating under the new moniker of "Farmer Jack." By 1972, Detroit became a major zone of grocery store competition, with about six major grocery chains competing in the region, including Chatham and Great Scott! In a speech, Paul Borman claimed A&P 's move to discount-type stores had just about destroyed the supermarket industry. By 1987, the company was struggling to keep Detroit-area stores operating during a strike by clerks and cashiers, who were supported by meat cutters and Teamsters . Borman's eventually bought out 800 workers at a cost of $12.9 million. This started a period of losses that would eventually prompt the sale to A&P. During a decade of merger-mania in the supermarket business, Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc. (A&P) paid $76 million for 79 Farmer Jack stores operated by Borman's. The buyout placed A&P in the number one slot among grocery stores in the Detroit area, with control of 36% of the market. By 1994, nearly all A&P stores in Metro Detroit had been converted to Farmer Jack stores. However, by 2002, with its latest president fired, Farmer Jack struggled to retain market share. The chain reorganized Metro Detroit operations, closing four stores in addition to cutting its headquarters staff in half. A 64,000-square-foot store opens at the corner of Jefferson and St. Jean, becoming the largest Farmer Jack in Detroit. About 30 24-hour stores trim their hours to cut costs. At one point in 2003, the company closes all stores for 37 hours and relaunches itself by unveiling lower food prices and dropping its Bonus Saving Club discount plan. In 2004, with A&P fighting for financial survival, Farmer Jack announces plans to close 13 stores in Metro Detroit. Three of them reopen as deep-discount Food Basics stores, while seven other Farmer Jack stores convert to Food Basics. In April 2005, A&P announced that Food Basics in Metro Detroit will be closed or sold. In May 2005, A&P announced the plan to divest itself of all Midwestern Farmer Jack operations. The chain was officially up for sale, and the initial plan was to sell the chain to Grand Rapids, MI based Spartan Stores, while still keeping labor contracts with the United Food And Commercial Workers intact. However, Spartan backed out of the deal and the final decision was made not to sell the chain and Farmer Jack operates to this day as a division of A&P. EXTERNAL LINKS |
|
|