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Institution Food House history
Institution Food House company history timeline
On January 2, 1966, IFH was officially born with Lee George as president and Norman James as vice-president.
Institution Food House and Lowes Food Stores: 1966-91
1966: Institution Food House (IFH) is established.
1973 IFH moves into 50,000 square foot facility.
IFH also continued to expand with entry into South Carolina with the purchase of Brothers Foods of Dillion, South Carolina in 1982.
A new 90,000 square foot facility opens in Florence, SC to replace the Dillon, SC distribution center that was destroyed by fire in 1986.
In 1986, MDI's sister firm, IFH, was forced to cope with the aftermath of its decision four years earlier to purchase Brothers Foods.
The new site opened in January 1988 and, because of its proximity to Interstate 95, IFH now had ready access to the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, market as well as direct access to potential customers in Georgia and Florida.
Lowes Foods continued their store growth by adding 19 more stores by 1989.
1991: IFH purchases 80 percent of the Western Steer Family Restaurant chain.
They also introduced a new concept, FreshSmart, in 1994 that emphasized full selection of quality fresh foods, upscale customer service, and faster checkout.
While Carl Buchan focused on developing Lowes Hardware into the Lowe's Companies, Inc. home improvement super chain that by 1995 would number 350 stores, Faw focused on the expansion of his part of Lucius Lowe's legacy.
In August 1996, Alex Lee floated a $60 million investors' issue to pay for the expansion.
In 1996, she opened two Lowes "FreshSmart" stores, which featured expanded offerings of produce, seafood and meats, prepared and organic foods, and such nonfood services as flower sales and photo processing.
In an effort to dramatically boost that number, Alex Lee acquired Byrd Food Stores, a 43-store chain based in North Carolina, in 1997.
Also in 1998, Alex Lee started a new storage and distribution business called Consolidation Services which supplies an array of warehousing and distribution services.
1998: Consolidation Services is created.
Alex Lee Inc. ranked 101 among the top 500 private firms in the United States in 1999 with operations in the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky.
In 1999, the company set plans in motion to close 11 stores located in unprofitable locations.
2000: Curtis Oldenkamp is named president of Lowes after Urquhart resigns.
In 2001, the firm announced a $1.3 billion plan that included the opening of 75 new stores in the northeast including Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maine.
2001: Lowes begins expansion into the northeastern United States and launches its S&H GreenPoints rewards program.
In keeping with our entrepreneurial spirit, IFH entered into a new venture in 2003 called IFH ChefSmart, a new retail concept.
2006 IFH builds new distribution center in Florence, SC.
In 2007, the first Lowes Foods Fuel station was opened.
2011 Lowes Foods introduces the Just$ave value format.
In 2012, Alex Lee, Inc. sold IFH to Performance Food Group turning its focus to the retail and wholesale distribution businesses.
In 2013, Lowes Foods re-opened the first store to offer the newly developed concepts in Clemmons, North Carolina.
2015 Lowes Foods continues to innovate introducing new concepts and an improved and updated Lowes Foods to Go service.
2016 Alex Lee introduces a new logo.
In 2017, Alex Lee acquired Souto Foods, LLC located in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Institution Food House competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacuzzi Whirlpool Bath Inc | 1968 | $108.6M | 800 | - |
| KSS Enterprises | 1945 | $8.5M | 150 | - |
| Harrington Industrial Plastics | 1959 | $300.0M | 200 | - |
| Rexair | 1932 | $4.8M | 20 | - |
| Brulin | 1935 | $360,000 | 10 | - |
| O'neal Flat Rolled Metals | - | $260.3M | 350 | - |
| Allied Electronics & Automation | 1928 | $320.0M | 800 | - |
| Laird Plastics | 1981 | $430.7M | 500 | - |
| EcoWater Systems | 1925 | $2.2M | 50 | - |
| National Distributing Company, Inc. | 1935 | $410.0M | 1,000 | - |
Institution Food House history FAQs
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Institution Food House may also be known as or be related to Institution Food House, Institution Food House Inc, Institution Food House Inc. and Institution Food House, Inc.