Felpausch Food Center was a regional

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...

chain based in

Hastings, Michigan Hastings ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Barry County, as well as the county's only city. The population was 7,514 at the 2020 census. The city borders Hastings Charter Township on the north, east, and ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The first store opened in Hastings in 1933, and the chain operated primarily in the southwestern quadrant of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

's Lower Peninsula. In March 2007, the chain's 20 locations were sold to Spartan Stores (now

SpartanNash SpartanNash Company (formerly Grand Rapids Wholesale Grocery Company and Spartan Stores, Inc.) is an American food distribution and retail company headquartered in Byron Center, Michigan. The company was founded in 1917 and was formerly known ...

), who largely converted them to

Family Fare Family Fare is an American supermarket chain. It was founded in 1966 in Holland, Michigan, and acquired by Don Koop in 1973. The chain was largely located in central-western Michigan for most of its history, with stores in Holland and the Grand Ra ...

and

D&W Fresh Market D&W Fresh Market is an American regional supermarket chain owned and operated by SpartanNash, which acquired the chain in 2006. Founded in 1943 in Grandville, Michigan, the chain consists of ten stores in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. History ...

History

Felpausch was founded in 1933 by Roman C. Felpausch in

. A store in

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...

was built in 1954. By 1962, the chain was also in Eaton Rapids,

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

, and

Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a worker who lays bricks to assist in brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutti ...

. In 1971, the Felpausch chain expanded by buying former Harding's Market locations in Delton and

Bronson, Michigan Bronson is a city in Branch County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,307 at the 2020 census. Incorporated as a city in 1934, Bronson is mostly surrounded by Bronson Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Histo ...

. The Bronson store was sold in 1982. Felpausch was run by the fifth generation of family members, and began operating as an associate-owned company since 1995. The following year, in 1996, it acquired locations from South Haven-based Village Markets in Dowagiac, Paw Paw, and

Benton Harbor Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is 46 miles southwest of Kalamazoo and 71 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. According to the 2020 census, its population was 9,103. It is the smaller, by population, of ...

. The Benton Harbor store, originally built as Jewel, was closed after only 10 months. A branch in

Battle Creek Battle Creek is a city in northwestern Calhoun County, Michigan, United States, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a tota ...

was converted to an upscale prototype called Zucca's in 2004.

Jackson, Michigan Jackson is a city in Jackson County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The population was 31,309 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along Interstate 94 in Michigan, Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127 in Michigan, U.S ...

and another in Battle Creek were both reconfigured in 2006 to have

Ace Hardware Ace Hardware Corporation is an American hardware retailers' cooperative based in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States. It is the largest non-grocery retail cooperative in the United States. Founded on October 25, 1924, as "Ace Stores", the co ...

franchises. These stores were also converted Jewel locations; the one in Battle Creek opened in 1994 to replace two other locations elsewhere in Battle Creek that had both previously been

Kroger The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States. Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cinc ...

locations. The replacement closed in 2008. In March 2007, it was announced that Felpausch was being purchased by nearby-based distributor and retailer Spartan Stores (now

). Spartan re-branded most of the Felpausch locations under the names

and

. The Felpausch store in

Charlotte Charlotte most commonly refers to: *Charlotte (given name), a feminine form of the given name Charles ** Princess Charlotte (disambiguation) ** Queen Charlotte (disambiguation) *Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, a city * Charlotte (cake) ...

was closed and converted to a health office by 2008. The original Felpausch store in Hastings closed in 2008 and became an Ace Hardware, followed by the closure of the Felpausch store in

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

in 2009. The former Felpausch location in Grand Ledge was shuttered in 2013 after a brief conversion to Family Fare. The Felpausch location in Mason became a

Save-A-Lot Save A Lot Food Stores Ltd. is an American discount supermarket chain store headquartered in St. Ann, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis. It has about 720 independently owned and operated stores across 32 states in the United States with over ...

which closed in January 2015.

References

{{Supermarkets of the United States Companies based in Grand Rapids, Michigan Retail companies established in 1933 Retail companies disestablished in 2007 Hastings, Michigan Defunct supermarkets of the United States 1933 establishments in Michigan 2007 disestablishments in Michigan