Shaw's Supermarkets
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Shaw's Supermarkets, Inc.
Shaw's, along with sister store, Star Market, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Eden Prairie, Minnesota based Supervalu. The company is presently the second largest grocery group in the northeast United States, the largest being Stop & Shop. The company is based in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts and employs roughly 30,000 associates across New England.
Shaw's was acquired by Albertsons in 2004, which acquired the chain from J Sainsbury plc for $2.5 billion. In 1999, Shaw's acquired the Star Market chain of supermarkets. Star Market was formerly owned by Investcorp, who in turn purchased the chain from American Stores in 1994. American Stores had acquired Star Market through its hostile takeover of the Jewel Companies, Inc. in 1984. Jewel acquired Star Market in 1961.
History
Beginning
In 1862, George C. Shaw opened a small teashop in Portland, Maine. Meanwhile, Maynard A. Davis established a group of small downtown grocery stores in the Brockton, Massachusetts and New Bedford, Massachusetts areas called Brockton Public Market or BPM. In 1919, Mr. Davis purchased George C. Shaw Company and made it a subsidiary of BPM.
Expansion
As George C. Shaw and BPM stores continued to grow, it was decided that a central grocery warehouse would be needed for the future growth of the two companies. In 1961, a warehouse in Brockton was purchased. By 1965, George C. Shaw had begun to move into other areas of the state and into Northern Massachusetts and New Hampshire. This expansion, combined with BPM's growth in volume in Southern Massachusetts moved the companies to build a distribution center in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts in 1972. In the 1980s a new warehouse was built in Wells, Maine and in January 1991 Shaw's opened a distribution facility for perishable food items in Methuen, Massachusetts. In 1978, BPM stores in Massachusetts changed their names to Shaw's Supermarkets, Inc. to maximize advertising. It was the first step in the contemplated merger of the two companies.