Hannaford Bros. Co. - History

History

Hannaford was founded in 1883 by Arthur Hannaford as a small produce store along the Portland, Maine waterfront.

In 1902 Arthur Hannaford's brothers, Howard and Edward, joined the business and together they incorporated Hannaford Bros. Co. By 1920 the company became a leading produce wholesaler in northern New England. Hannaford then relocated to a new five-story warehouse on Cross Street. In 1939, with the purchase of Tondreau Supermarkets Inc., sponsor of Red & White stores in Maine, Hannaford expanded into the wholesale grocery business. Late in 1944, Hannaford Co. opened its first retail outlet under an equity partnership arrangement with Adjutor Tondreau.

By 1960 Hannaford Bros. had constructed a 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m2) distribution center in South Portland to better service more retail stores. With the purchase of 31 Sampson's grocery stores in 1966 as well as the 1967 purchase of Progressive Distributors, Hannaford expanded its retail presence. By 1971, the company's earnings topped $1 million.

Hannaford continued to rapidly expand throughout the 1970s and 1980s by opening a chain of Wellby Drug Stores, many of which were incorporated into Shop 'N' Save retail stores. By 1987 the company had spread into New York and Massachusetts; that same year sales hit $1 billion.

In the 1990s Hannaford began an expansion into the Southeast by purchasing a small Southeastern North Carolina supermarket chain, Wilson's Supermarkets, which served as the foundation of an expansion of Hannaford stores into the Carolinas and Virginia. In 2000, Delhaize America bought Hannaford; the purchase both eliminated an emerging competitor to its Food Lion chain in the Southeast and expanded its operations into the Northeast. However, the move ended up bringing an even bigger competitor into the market when national chain Kroger bought 20 of the redundant stores and moved into the market.

The Hannaford name first took over for Shop 'N' Save on private labels in 1996. Five years later, stores in the Portland, Maine, area assumed the name, with their counterparts in the rest of the state as well as New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont. As of 2006, only a small number of locations continue to use the Shop 'n' Save banner. Independently owned and operated franchises receiving merchandise through Hannaford's wholesale distribution use the Shop 'n' Save name, mainly in smaller communities. In 2005, 19 Victory Supermarkets in Massachusetts and New Hampshire were purchased and converted to Hannaford stores. Some Hannaford locations in North Carolina were sold to Lowes Foods upon the buyout by Delhaize America while others were closed.

In 2006 Hannaford Supermarkets launched Guiding Stars, the first storewide nutrition navigation program. The concept of Guiding Stars was born from extensive consumer research that revealed a desire to live healthier lifestyles, but showed confusion understanding the volume and complexity of the nutrition-related information available in the media, advertisements and on food packaging. The rankings are based on U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines.

Hannaford Supermarkets are found in Maine (the largest number of its stores), New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York. Areas outside Maine with a strong Hannaford presence include Manchester, New Hampshire; Burlington, Vermont; and Albany, New York.

Until 2011 the company regularly marketed numerous products under its own private labels — including products by Richelieu Foods. The company now uses the Delhaize-standard Home 360 brand.