Family Fare
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryRetail / Grocery
Founded1966 (58 years ago) (1966) in Holland, Michigan, U.S.
FounderDon Koop
Headquarters
Byron Center, Michigan
,
U.S.
Number of locations
83 (2022)
Area served
Michigan, North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin
ProductsBakery, dairy, delicatessen, frozen foods, grocery, lottery, pharmacy, produce, meats, snack food, liquor, flowers, and Western Union
ServicesSupermarket
ParentSpartanNash
Websiteshopfamilyfare.com

Family Fare is an American supermarket chain. A division of SpartanNash, it has operated stores in Michigan since 1966, and also operates in North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

History

The first Family Fare store opened in 1966 in Holland, Michigan. It was an existing supermarket which was acquired in 1973 by Don Koop.[1][2] By the 1990s, the chain was owned by Spartan Stores (now SpartanNash), and had added locations in Byron Center and Lowell.[3] Family Fare expanded into Indiana in the late 1980s with four stores, but closed all four in 1995.[4]

In 2004, Spartan began consolidating most of its nameplates into two brands: Glen's Markets in northern lower Michigan, and Family Fare in southern lower Michigan. This change rebranded three locations of Prevo's Markets in Grand Rapids (which themselves had previously been known as Daane's) to Family Fare, as well as the Great Day chain, while the rest of the Prevo's became Glen's.[5][6]

Spartan expanded Family Fare in 2007 when some locations of Felpausch were converted (mostly in the Battle Creek, Michigan area), with others becoming D&W Fresh Market instead.[7] Family Fare began expanding into northern Michigan in 2010 when a Glen's (formerly Ashcraft's) in Midland was converted.[8] Starting in 2013, Spartan converted more Glen's to Family Fare;[7] the conversions finished in 2014 with Frankfort and Sault Ste. Marie.[9] Other locations were rebranded from D&W Fresh Market around the same time, including Rockford and Grandville.[10][11]

In November 2014, the first locations opened in the Fargo, North Dakota metropolitan area through conversions from Econofoods and Sunmart.[12] Two years later, Family Fare entered Omaha, Nebraska through the conversion of the No Frills brand.[13] Further conversion from Econofoods in 2018 resulted in the chain's first stores in Minnesota.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Ron Kunnen Obituary (2019) Grand Rapids Press".
  2. ^ "Firm conviction: Grocery chain sticks to conservative ways". Sunday: The Magazine for the Lord's Day. Lord's Day Alliance of the U.S. 77–82. 1989.
  3. ^ "Lowell grocery stores open, close, and change" (PDF). The Grand Valley Ledger. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  4. ^ "Buyer of Family Fare to close 1, expand 3". South Bend Tribune. B3. February 24, 1995. Retrieved November 2, 2019.((cite news)): CS1 maint: location (link)
  5. ^ O'Brien, Bill (9 March 2004). "Prevo's to become Glen's Market". Traverse City Record-Eagle. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  6. ^ Wilson, Rick (1 January 2012). "Family Fare Supermarket on Cascade Road to close this weekend". mlive.com. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  7. ^ a b Springer, Jon (August 6, 2007). "Spartan to Convert Felpausch to D&W, Family Fare". Supermarket News.
  8. ^ "Glen's Markets disappear as last stores convert to Family Fare Supermarkets". Booth Newspapers. November 7, 2014.
  9. ^ Martinez, Shandra (7 November 2014). "Glen's Markets disappear as last stores convert to Family Fare Supermarkets". mlive.com. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  10. ^ Martinez, Shandra (26 August 2010). "Grandville D&W to become a Family Fare grocery store". mlive.com. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  11. ^ Martinez, Shandra (22 July 2012). "Why Rockford's upscale D&W Fresh Market is being rebranded budget-friendly Family Fare". Mlive.com. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  12. ^ Martinez, Shandra (1 November 2014). "SpartanNash expanding Family Fare stores beyond Michigan". mlive.com. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  13. ^ Barbara Soderlin (May 26, 2015). "No Frills will become Family Fare, add features to compete in Omaha market". Omaha.com. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  14. ^ "Family Fare banner, additional offerings, customer-first focus highlight $500,000 renovation of Red Wing store". SpartanNash. September 12, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
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