Lowe's Market

Lowe's Market is a regional supermarket chain, primarily in West Texas and South Texas and throughout New Mexico. The company also operates stores in Colorado and Arizona. The company's home office is in Littlefield, Texas.

History

Lowe's Market (not to be confused with Lowes Foods, a North Carolina-based supermarket chain) traces its history to E.M. "Bud" Lowe who sold candy and sundries from the back of a truck in Littlefield, Texas in the 1940s.[1] In 1964, Bud Lowe opened the first Lowe's Market grocery store in Olton, Texas, a small grocery market. The company began the process of gradual expansion into small and medium-sized towns in Texas and New Mexico. Some of the stores are similar to large convenience stores, between 2,000 sq.ft. to 4,000 sq.ft., however, stocked with fresh meat and produce. Many of the stores are standard supermarket size, 15,000 sq.ft. to 40,000 sq.ft.

Growth and Expansion

Many Lowe's Market stores were acquired from other companies such as Furr's Grocery (defunct, many of which were Safeway stores), Big 8 Foods, and Super S.[2][3][4] Currently, there are 146 Lowe's Market stores open in the chain in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado.

After the bankruptcy of Furr's Supermarkets in 2001, Lowe's Market acquired a number of the Furr's properties and converted them into Lowe's Market stores. In April, 2011, Lowe's Market acquired 53 Super S Food stores, a San Antonio-based chain.[5]

In some areas, Lowe's Market stores use the names Lowe's, Shop N Save, Food Jet, Super S, Big 8, Super Save, and Avanza. A significant number of the stores in New Mexico, Texas and Colorado are aimed at the Hispanic grocery market share, particularly the stores using the Avanza, Fiesta, Fiero and Mercado nameplates. However, Hispanic grocery products are commonly stocked in all Lowe's Market stores, since the stores serve a substantial Latino/Hispanic population in all geographic areas of the company's presence.

There is one store in Arizona, in Window Rock. In Colorado, there are stores in Greeley and in the Denver area. In New Mexico, stores are found throughout the state. In Texas, stores are in west Texas, north Texas, the Panhandle, central Texas, and south Texas.

References

  1. ↑ Lowe's Market Web Page http://www.lowesmarket.com/aboutus.php
  2. ↑ "Fleming's buyout of Furrs done". Associated Press. September 2, 2001. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  3. ↑ El Paso Times (PDF). August 2, 2006 http://www.thefoodpartners.com/pr-pdf/08.02.06no2.pdf. Retrieved December 19, 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ Thaxton, Bob (April 3, 2011). "Lowe's chain to take over Super S stores". Seguin Gazette-Enterprise. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Lowe's Market acquires Super S." Supermarket News, Apr. 11, 2011. http://supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/lowes-market-acquires-super-s


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