Raley's Supermarkets

Raley's Supermarkets
Private
Industry Retail / Grocery
Founded February 16, 1935 (February 16, 1935)
Placerville, California, U.S.
Headquarters West Sacramento, California, U.S.
Number of locations
 Decrease 121 stores: 72 Raley's, 20 Bel Air, 20 Nob Hill Foods and 9 Food Source stores.[1]
Key people
 James Teel and Joyce Raley Teel, Co-Chairs
Michael Teel, President & CEO
Products Bakery, dairy, deli, frozen foods, gas, general grocery, meat, pharmacy, produce, seafood, snacks
Revenue Increase $3.2 billion (2016)[2]
Number of employees
 Decrease 12,000 (2016[2])
Website Official website

Raley's Supermarkets (also known as Raley's Family of Fine Stores) is a privately held, family-owned supermarket chain that operates stores under the Raley's, Bel Air Markets, Nob Hill Foods[note 1] and Food Source names in northern California and Nevada. The company was founded in 1935 by Thomas P. Raley in Placerville, and employs around 12,000 workers as of 2016. Headquartered in West Sacramento, California, Raley's is the dominant supermarket operator in the Sacramento metropolitan area.

History

Raley's headquarters in West Sacramento

The company was founded on February 16, 1935 by Thomas P. Raley in Placerville, CA as Raley's Drive-In Market.[3] Raley ran the company until his death on December 27, 1991, at the age of 88.[4] Raley's purchased Bel Air Markets in 1993 and Nob Hill Foods in 1997,[5][6] and started Food Source in 1995.[7]

In 1998, the company had revenue of $2.5 billion.[8] In June 1999, Albertson's announced plans to sell its 19 stores in Las Vegas to Raley's, which also planned to purchase eight Albertson's stores in New Mexico.[9] For five years, Raley's had been searching for ways to expand the company, with specific interest in the Las Vegas and Salt Lake City markets.[8] At the time, Raley's was the 38th largest supermarket chain in the United States,[9] with 150 stores, including Bel Air Markets, Food Source and Nob Hill Foods. The company had 17,500 employees across its four divisions.[8] Raley's opened its Las Vegas stores later in 1999,[8][10] and had plans to build additional locations in the Las Vegas area.[11][10]

At the time, Michael Teel – the grandson of Thomas Raley – was the company's president and chief executive officer (CEO). Joyce Teel, the mother of Michael Teel, was the company's owner.[10] William J. Coyne, the company's first general counsel, became the chief operating officer in February 2002. Michael Teel resigned as president in April 2002, to pursue "personal endeavors." Coyne replaced Teel as president.[12]

In September 2002, Kroger announced plans to purchase Raley's 18 store locations in Las Vegas, with intentions of converting them into Smith's and Food 4 Less stores.[13][14][15] Raley's stated that slow growth and local competition were reasons for selling the stores. The revenue from the sale was to be used to build and renovate stores in Reno, Nevada and northern California.[16] The Federal Trade Commission approved the sale in November 2002. Raley's stores in Las Vegas began closing later that month.[16][17][18] As of November 2009, three Raley's supermarkets had been awarded Greenchill Partnership Gold-Level Certification by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for environmentally friendly refrigeration technology.[19]

A new Raley's in Modesto, California

As of 2012, Raley's operates 128 stores, 40 of them in the Greater Sacramento area. Those stores control the city's largest market share: 28%, down from 30% in 2007 and 34% in 2003, according to Metro Market Studies of Tucson, Arizona. By comparison, other local market shares are Safeway at 16.7%, Costco at 11.9% and Save Mart Supermarkets at 9.2%. However, the company is suffering from increased competition in the region as well as the poor economy, and had more than 150 corporate layoffs in 2011 and closed several stores in 2012.[20][21] Supermarket News ranked Raley's No. 38 in the 2009 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2008–09 fiscal year estimated sales of $3.4 billion,[21] but for 2012 ranked Raley's at No. 45, down slightly from 2009, with sales, also down slightly, of an estimated $3.0 billion.[22] Consumer Reports surveys rank Raley's among the top U.S. supermarket chains, in particular for customer service.[23][24][25] The same holds true for 2012, although the chain has fallen from number 4 nationwide in 2009 to number 8.[26]

Thomas Raley's family still controlled the company as of 2015. His daughter and son-in-law, Joyce Raley Teel and James Teel, are co-chairs of the board of directors, while their son Michael is president and CEO. Michael Teel became the majority shareholder in mid-2015.[4] Keith Knopf was named Raley's chief operating officer on June 1, 2015. Knopf has worked with May Co. Department Stores and Kohl's retail chain in the past.[27]

As of 2016, Raley's also operates Aisle 1 brand gas stations.[2] Raley Field, home of the Sacramento RiverCats, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, is located in West Sacramento and is named after the chain.

Notes

  1. ↑ Not to be confused with Knob Hill Farms, a now-defunct Canadian supermarket chain.

References

  1. ↑ "Raley's Fact Sheet" (Press release). Raley's. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Raley's on the Forbes America's Private Companies List". Forbes. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  3. ↑ Kelly Johnson, "Raley's keeps busy with building, remodeling, Web", Sacramento Business Journal, November 22, 1998, retrieved November 5, 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Raley's majority ownership passes to Michael Teel". Supermarket News. May 18, 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2015. (subscription required)
  5. ↑ "Raley'S / Bel Air: Happily Married". Nl.newsbank.com. December 5, 1993. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Family Prunes Its Business". Nl.newsbank.com. December 17, 1997. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Raley's is expanding Food Source format". Supermarket News. September 11, 1995. Retrieved October 14, 2016. (subscription required)
  8. 1 2 3 4 Smith, Hubble (September 17, 1999). "Raley's to open first LV store". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on October 10, 2000.
  9. 1 2 "Albertson's to sell all LV stores". Las Vegas Sun. June 22, 1999. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 Puppel, Doug (October 9, 1999). "Food Awakening: Raley's boss promises improvements in old Albertson's stores". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on June 14, 2000.
  11. ↑ Levine, Paul (September 13, 1999). "Raley's converting Albertson's, looking at further LV growth". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  12. ↑ "LV supermarket chain CEO out". Las Vegas Sun. April 22, 2002. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  13. ↑ Smith, Hubble (September 14, 2002). "Kroger to purchase Raley's LV stores: Acquisition will make it largest chain in Las Vegas". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on September 20, 2002.
  14. ↑ Crowley, Matthew; Smith, Hubble (September 18, 2002). "Kroger to close, convert stores: Union talking with company about job worries". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on September 22, 2002.
  15. ↑ "Smith's to close three LV Raley's stores". Las Vegas Sun. September 17, 2002. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  16. 1 2 Leong, Grace (November 14, 2002). "FTC allows buyout of Vegas-area Raley's". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Raley's to start closing stores: Seven sites to be shuttered today". Las Vegas Review-Journal. November 14, 2002. Archived from the original on January 11, 2003.
  18. ↑ Jones, Chris (December 17, 2002). "Ex-Raley's stores set to open: Food 4 Less plans to have two shops operating this week". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on February 12, 2003.
  19. ↑ "U.S. EPA Press Release: U.S. EPA Recognizes Raley's Supermarket Efforts to Keep Planet Cool, Nov. 2009". Yosemite.epa.gov. 2009-11-04. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
  20. ↑ Kelly Jonson, "Raley's closing two more stores", Sacramento Business Journal, March 2, 2012, retrieved November 5, 2012.
  21. 1 2 Eliot Zwiebach, "In With the New: The Sacramento Market: Conventional chains in California's capital city are feeling the heat from a range of competitive openings", Supermarket News, April 2, 2012, retrieved November 5, 2012.
  22. ↑ Top 75 Retailers & Wholesalers 2012, Supermarket News, retrieved November 5, 2012.
  23. ↑ "Consumers rate supermarkets: Raley's comes out on top", The Food Institute Report, August 11, 2003: "West Sacramento, CA-based Raley's was ranked as the nation's top supermarket".
  24. ↑ Joyce Swanson, "Raley's, Trader Joe's, Costco get high grades", Reno Gazette-Journal, August 12, 2003: "Consumer Reports readers evaluated shopping experiences in a number of areas, ... Raley's was the top-ranked store for overall customer satisfaction" (pay per view)
  25. ↑ Reuters, "Shoppers prefer smaller grocers over Wal-Mart: poll", April 6, 2009.
  26. ↑ "Regional Food Chains Rule Magazine's 'Best' List", Supermarket News, April 3, 2012, retrieved November 5, 2012.
  27. ↑ Glover, Mark (June 1, 2015). "Raley's hires retail industry veteran as chief operating officer". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
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