Dillons

Dillons Supermarkets, Inc.

Type	Grocery
Industry	Retail
Founded	Sterling, Kansas
Headquarters	Hutchinson, Kansas
Products	Bakery, dairy, deli, frozen foods, general grocery, meat, pharmacy, produce, salad bar, seafood, snacks, liquor
Parent	Kroger
Website	Dillons.com

Dillons is a grocery supermarket chain based in Hutchinson, Kansas, and is a division of The Kroger Company. Other banners under Dillon Stores Division include Gerbes in Missouri, Baker's in Omaha, Nebraska and a Food 4 Less store in Fremont, Nebraska. Dillon's operates grocery stores throughout Kansas with major influences in Wichita metropolitan area and Topeka, Kansas.

Dillon's operates a dry grocery warehouse in Goddard, Kansas, in addition to frozen foods and perishable warehouses in Hutchinson. A bakery manufacturing plant and dairy are also in Hutchinson. The dairy produces cultured dairy products and private-label milk for all Dillon's stores. Dillon's previously operated (until the late 1990s) dry grocery warehouses in Hutchinson and Lenexa, Kansas.

History

After his initial venture in selling groceries at his general store in Sterling, Kansas in the 1890’s, Jonathan S. Dillon opened his first J.S. Dillon Cash Food Market in Hutchinson, Kansas, in 1913.

After several decades of steadily building the chain, a burst of growth began in 1957, when John's son, Raymond, expanded with additional stores in the Wichita market. By 1968, J S. Dillon and Sons had grown into Dillon Companies, Inc., and began acquiring regional banners, such as City Market, Fry’s, Gerbes, and King Soopers, over 300 convenience stores in 5 states, and Jackson’s Ice Cream dairy. Dillon Companies Inc. joined the Kroger family in 1983 and brought with it two future CEOs: Joe Pichler, who served as CEO of Kroger from 1990 to 2003, and Kroger’s current CEO, Dave Dillon. Dave is the great grandson of J. S. Dillon.

Today, more than 12,000 associates work at 93 stores in the Dillon Stores Division, which includes 26 stores in Wichita, Kansas area, 13 stores in the Omaha, Nebraska area, 9 stores in Topeka, Kansas, and 24 fuel centers. The format for most locations is the traditional combination of food, general merchandise, and pharmacy, with an average of 49,000 square feet per store. The division offers Dillons Marketplace stores in Kansas, located in Wichita, Andover, and Derby.

In 1983, Dillon Companies Inc. was acquired by The Kroger Company of Cincinnati, OH, creating a nationwide grocery chain. Several years later, Dave Dillon was named Kroger's President and COO and became CEO in 2003, and still serves in that position today.

In 2006, Kroger opened the first Dillons Marketplace in Wichita, Kansas. The concept, similar to Kroger's Fred Meyer chain, is 110,000 square feet (10,000 m²) of grocery and general merchandise.^[1]

References

1. ^ Dillons Marketplace Format Comes to Kansas