Smiths

Historic businesses: Smith's

Key Dates:

1911:

Lorenzo Smith opens a small dry goods grocery store in Brigham City, Utah.

1932:

The family business is named Smith and Son's Market.

1952:

After refurbishing and expansion, the original store is reopened as Smith's Super Market.

1969:

Smith's acquires its first nonfood business, the Utah-based Souvall Brothers.

1980:

Having diversified its range of products and services, the company begins using the slogan, "We're not just a food store anymore."

1989:

Smith's Food & Drug Centers makes an initial public offering.

1997:

Smith's is acquired by Portland, Oregon-based Fred Meyer.

1999:

Smith's parent company, Fred Meyer, is acquired by Kroger Company.

Origins of a Family Business: 1911

The story of Smith's Food & Drug Centers, Inc., can be traced back to 1911 when Lorenzo Smith rented a space for a small grocery market stocking such staples as rice, flour, and dry beans. Smith's store was similar to other stores in Brigham City at that time, and it took Smith about ten years to accumulate enough capital to buy a larger store across the street. The family business, named Smith and Son's Market in 1932, remained afloat during the Great Depression, but growth was virtually nonexistent as many former customers were forced back into subsistence farming. Smith took most of his earnings and purchased property in the area, which was available at rock-bottom prices.

In 1942 business picked up after the U.S. Army built a hospital near the Smith market. Dee Smith returned from service in World War I and had worked in various jobs, mainly as a promoter of boxing and wrestling matches. He used these skills to promote the grocery store and also was instrumental in encouraging his father to modernize and expand the store in the late 1940s. With financial backing from his father, Dee Smith and his partner George C. Woodward opened a 10,000-square-foot grocery store, the first of its kind in Brigham City. By the end of World War II, Smith and Son's recognized that the neighborhood mom-and-pop store was becoming obsolete. Pent-up spending power from the war was being unleashed, and the dynamic expansion of production led to new demands by the average consumer.

Exponential Growth in the 1940s and 1950s

From 1946 until Lorenzo Smith's death in 1958 the company grew exponentially, with Dee Smith leading the aggressive growth campaign. The store was refurbished and expanded by 50 percent, an advanced refrigeration system was installed, and the name was changed to Smith's Super Market. Reopened in December 1952, the store posted huge sales increases; by 1954 Smith's was able to acquire American Food retail stores, a major grocery wholesaler and the primary supplier of Smith's. Soon after, another major store was opened in Brigham City with four times the space as Smith's Super Market.

These moves by Dee Smith established a firm base for expansion. Gross sales quadrupled from 1956 to 1957 and profit rates, although only 3 percent, were high by industry standards at the time. The purchase of Thiokol Chemical Corporation stock, an important business move, provided the duo with further capital for expansion. Thiokol had opened a plant north of Brigham City and was awarded a large Air Force contract. The investment reaped huge dividends, with the stock increasing in market value more than 12-fold by 1960.With demand picking up as wages and employment grew in Brigham City, Smith and Woodward launched a growth plan, which included large ad campaigns and diversified product selection. Bolstered by increased highway construction that would provide access to residential markets, Smith's was also awarded the concession contract for Morrison-Knudsen Construction Company, which was building a causeway in the area and was housing its workforce nearby. Smith received concession rights for all services, including groceries, a restaurant, and a barber shop, to the residential construction camp. The operation was a guaranteed market and solidly profitable.

This information, with additional information available, was taken from: https://www.fundinguniverse.com/.../smith-s-food-drug.../

All photos are used for educational, noncommercial and nonprofit use. Photos have been collected from the Compton Collection and Bruce Keyes from the BENJ.