- Sentry Foods
Sentry Foods is a
grocery store chain operating inWisconsin .Sentry Foods stores got their start in the Milwaukee area of Wisconsin in the 1960s, being operated and supplied by the Godfrey family. Fleming Companies, Inc., at the time a major wholesaler, bought the majority of the stores and took over supplying them in the mid 1980's. Being predominantly a wholesaler, Fleming was never on top of the retail market, and due to a series of missteps and poor financial choices, Fleming went bankrupt in 2000 and was forced to sell off the remaining stores. Each individual store is now independently owned and operated. Terry Daniels owns and operates six: Janesville East, Janesville West, Whitewater, Elkhorn, Walworth and recently, Belleville. They are all supplied by "Supervalu" of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. [ [http://www.jsonline.com/story/?id=162299] ]
Sentry Foods had its own bakery division, Crestwood.The bakery resided on Highway 100 and Greenfield in West Allis, WI. After the purchase of the Sentry distribution line from Supervalu, the company felt that the bakery was obsolete and closed the division, selling its bakery recipes to Milwaukee based Grebe's Bakery.The former bakery building was sold off and demolished to make way for an Aldi store anda Culver's restaurant.
Sentry also benefited from the exit of the Kohl's Food Stores and Jewel-Osco from the Milwaukee Market.A few of the former Jewel stores were rebranded Sentry and continued distribution with SuperValu.(Example: the location at Chase and Oklahoma Avenue in Milwaukee, it was a Cub Foods, then Jewel-Osco).
When A&P exited the market with the Kohl's Food Stores, the smaller stores were purchased by independent owners, remodeled and reopened as Sentry (an example is the former Kohl's store on 92ndand Lisbon in Milwaukee.) The stores were formally marketed under the Supersaver,
Rainbow Foods and Sun Foods banners. SuperSaver stores were generally the largest Sentry stores, while Rainbow stores were stripped down, low cost affairs. A number of stores have closed due to competition with Pick `n Save (Roundy's ),Wal-Mart andALDI . When Jewel Osco owned by Supervalu closed its stores in Wisconsin Albercht's Sentry Foods took over two Stores in the providences of Raicne and Kenosha Counties, in May 2007, making its debut which became more of a debt then a profit Shortly after its Grand opening (aproximetely six months) Albretch's Sentry Foods closed its Sentry Foods Store in Kenosha Wisconsin and its Raicine Store is still in debut.Notes
* [http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=436522]
* [http://www.jsonline.com/story/?id=334285]
* [http://www.jsonline.com/story/?id=220004]External links
* [http://www.sentryfoods.com Sentry Foods Website]
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