Nash Finch Company history

Nash Finch Company began in 1885 when Vermont native Fred Nash, after traveling west and toiling at several unpromising jobs, invested $400 and established a candy and tobacco shop in Devil's Lake, a Dakota Territory boomtown.

By the time North Dakota achieved statehood in 1889, the brothers had opened three additional stores, suffered the loss of one and severe damage to another from separate fires, and, finally, consolidated their operations in the emerging urban center of Grand Forks.

Also in 1896, the company incorporated under the name Nash Brothers Wholesale Produce Co.

Harry Finch came into the picture in 1899 as a stock boy who would later rise through the ranks of the company.

A 1905 partnership forged with a budding Red River Valley produce brokerage named C.H. Robinson Company--to which Finch was elected vice-president--further broadened Nash's service base.

After Nash Brothers acquired control of Robinson in 1913, branch offices were established in Minneapolis, Sioux City, Milwaukee, Chicago, Fort Worth, and virtually everywhere else the parent company had sprouted its own warehouse facilities.

1921: Nash Finch Co. is incorporated.

As the corporation's first president, Fred Nash oversaw the complex consolidation process, which was completed in 1925.

At the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, Nash Finch ranked as one of the foremost food distributors in the Midwest, with sales of more than $35 million.

The only year in which the company failed to turn a profit was 1932, generally considered the worst year of the Depression.

1954: Acquires 17-store supermarket chain.

1983: Lists on Nasdaq.

The 1985 acquisition of M.H. McLean Wholesaler Grocery Company effectively inaugurated the plan.

Grand Forks, N.D.: Center for Innovation and Business Development, 1990.

The December 1992 loss of an account with Lunds Inc., a $120 million upscale Minnesota retail chain, seemed hardly to hinder the company; within four months it had reached an agreement to acquire Easter Enterprises, a 16-store chain with sales of $250 million.

In 1994 Chairman and CEO Harold B. Finch, Jr., died in an automobile accident.

Net earnings rose as well, to $20 million, from $17.4 million in 1995.

But Nash Finch's share of the market took an even bigger leap in 1996 through the company's acquisition of Super Food Services, Inc.

Nash Finch took a pretax charge of $106 million in relation to the restructuring, leading to a net loss for 1998 of $61.7 million.

During 1999 Nash Finch overhauled and expanded its retail operations.

By mid-2001 there were four Buy-n-Saves in Minnesota, while Wholesale Food Outlet stores had been opened in Greeley, Colorado; Muscatine, Iowa; and Omaha.

2002: Opens Avanza, a Hispanic-themed grocery.

In May 2004, then, Marshall announced that 21 underperforming stores would be closed, and the Buy-n-Save and Avanza concepts would be jettisoned.

2009: Military unit acquires three new distribution centers.

2012: Adds to grocery holdings with acquisition of 18 No Frills stores and 12 Bag 'N Save stores.