Associated Grocers history

By 1952 the cooperative had 600 members, operating stores in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and the Hawaiian islands.

Following the completion of the warehouse complex, a new department was created to manage drugs and sundries, and in 1953 the cooperative recorded nearly $39.5 million in sales and returned $455,417 in patronage dividends.

The cooperative's new president, Bert Hambleton, was elected in 1971.

A supermarket development subsidiary was formed in 1981 to manage the financing and development of stores for Associated Grocers members, tasks that had clogged the cooperative's administration operations, consuming as much as 60 percent of its time.

Largely due to the association with Pacific Gamble, revenues had increased by 20 percent since 1984 to reach approximately $900 million.

In 1985 Associated Grocers purchased 25 stores located in Washington from Lucky Food Stores, a retail chain operating in 30 states.

1990: Sales surpass the $1 billion mark.

Nevertheless, Associated Grocers' performance rebounded in 1991, as the dividends climbed back up to $13.5 million, and earnings jumped to $5.2 million on revenues of $1.1 billion.

Strengthening operations was especially important to United, which had suffered from declining net income since 1992.

In 1995 Associated Grocers had sales of about $1.2 billion and, based on sales, it was the largest private company in Washington.

For instance, Fred Meyer, Inc., became larger with its purchase of Quality Food Centers, Inc. (QFC) in 1998.

-from the Wheeling Warehouse Historic District National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, 2002