Andronico's
 "Your Local Specialty Market Since 1929" | |
| Private/Grocery | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | Berkeley, 1929 |
| Defunct | November 2016 (original) |
| Headquarters | San Leandro, California |
Key people |
CEO Gary Barrett COO Anthony Gilmore CFO Cheryl Hughes MOM Bridget Kwok |
| Products | Organic produce, artisan bakery, prepared foods, catering, meat, seafood, liquor, wine, cheese, floral |
| Owner | Renovo Capital |
| Website | andronicos.com |
Andronico's Community Markets, known locally as "Andronico's" (and formerly known as "Park and Shop"), was a supermarket chain based primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its first store was founded in 1929 on Berkeley's Solano Avenue by Greek immigrant Frank Andronico.[1]
In late 2011, Andronico's filed for bankruptcy. A new group of investors has assumed management of the chain during the reorganization process.
In November 2016, it was announced that Andronico's approached Safeway, and Safeway agreed to buy Andronico's remaining stores. The stores began closing in January 2017, with the North Berkeley store closing first.[2]
History
Beginnings
Andronico's first store opened its doors in 1929 at the Berkeley location (on Solano Avenue) by patriarch Frank Andronico, an immigrant from Greece. Some time afterward, Andronico renamed the location "Park and Shop". Other locations opened, an additional location in Berkeley and one in San Francisco by the 1950s. Park and Shop became known for high quality (especially in fresh produce) and excellent service. The chain was run by founder Frank, succeeded by his son John, and by the 1980s, grandson Bill. Under Bill Andronico, the chain changed its name to Andronico's, and expanded to nine locations by the year 2000, including a 40,000 sf flagship location in the upscale local suburb of Danville.[3] Smaller-format locations in Emeryville and Walnut Creek, opened right before the dot-com crash, performed below expectations and were eventually shut down. Rising costs for employee health care and insurance led to layoffs in the early 2000s.
Bankruptcy and reorganization
Andronico's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2011, In October 2011, the company was purchased by a private equity firm called Renwood Opportunities Fund, a partnership between Renovo Capital and Rosewood Private Investments.[4]
New management
Late in 2011 during reorganization, executives and buyers who once worked for Whole Foods Market joined the management team of Andronico's. Justin Jackson, COO, managed the remaining five stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was originally hired as a consultant by Andronico’s after leaving Whole Foods. John Clougher, who was president of Whole Foods’ Pacific Northwest region, was chief executive officer of Andronico’s briefly before taking that title at A.G. Ferrari Foods, a local distributor owned by Renovo Capital, the Dallas-based firm that acquired Andronico’s out of bankruptcy last October. Bill Andronico, the grandson of the company’s founder and its former president and CEO, remained with the organization as chief administration officer.
Under the new ownership, Andronico’s stores were remerchandised — dropping approximately 7,000 slow-moving SKUs and replacing them with approximately 5,500 new items. Sales at Andronico’s reportedly improved nearly 10%.[5]
Locations
Andronico's had five locations, two in Berkeley, Solano and Shattuck Avenue, one in the El Rancho Center Los Altos, Irving Street San Francisco and Marin County's City of San Anselmo.
References
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-06-21. Retrieved 2007-06-29.
- ↑ http://www.andronicos.com/news. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ "History of Andronico's Market – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 2018-04-13.
- ↑ Yu, Jaehak (2011-10-16). "Company saves Bay Area's AG Ferrari Foods, Andronico's from bankruptcy". Dailycal.org. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
- ↑ Jun. 18, 2012 Elliot Zwiebach (2012-06-18). "Supermarket News". Supermarket News. Retrieved 2013-11-20.