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Food 4 Less is the name of several
grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, ...
chains, the largest of which is currently owned by
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 Cinci ...
. It is a no-frills
grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, ...
where the customers bag their own groceries at the checkout. Kroger operates Food 4 Less stores in the
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(
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...
and
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), the
Fresno area Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...
, and
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...
. Kroger operates their stores as Foods Co in northern and central California, because they do not have the rights to the Food 4 Less name in those areas. Other states, such as
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
, formerly contained Kroger-owned Food 4 Less stores. There are other stores scattered throughout the United States with the Food 4 Less name, part of franchise agreements with various wholesalers, including Unified Western Grocers and Associated Wholesale Grocers Midwest. These stores have particular penetration in central and northern California. The Food 4 Less name was previously used by Fleming Companies, Inc., but as Fleming exited various regions and ultimately collapsed, the rights to the name went to wholesalers who picked up some of Fleming's former customers.


Falley's

The Food 4 Less name and logo was originally conceived in the 1930s by Lou Falley, who developed a chain of stores both in the Food 4 Less name (with the warehouse/no frills format) and the Falley's name. The Falley's stores were full service supermarkets, while the Food 4 Less stores were warehouse stores, where labor costs were cut by having the groceries stocked to the shelves in the original cases, rather than stacking individual items. These stores were located throughout eastern Kansas and parts of northwestern Missouri. Over the years, the number of Falley's store diminished, and were replaced with Food 4 Less stores. Falley's also franchised Food 4 Less in states where it did not operate. Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Companies acquired Falley's in 1987. In a period of consolidation for the grocery industry, Food 4 Less merged into Ralphs; Fred Meyer acquired Ralphs in 1997, and was acquired by
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 Cinci ...
a year later. In 2015, Food 4 Less exited the
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...
market and Nevada entirely. Six of the stores were converted to sister store Smith's, a prominent grocery chain owned by Kroger in the Las Vegas area. The remaining Food 4 Less stores were simply shut down. In 1998, Fred Meyer sold Falley's and the midwest Food 4 Less stores to Associated Wholesale Grocers of Kansas City. The warehouse type stores were slowly phased out in favor of full service Food 4 Less stores with a new logo and format. In January 2006, the AWG-owned Falley's and Food 4 Less stores located in Kansas were combined with sister company Homeland Stores, based in
Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. The population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States Census, making it the fifth largest ...
. The company changed the names of the Food 4 Less stores, which it can't use beyond Kansas and Missouri, to AWG brands such as Price Chopper.


Nugget

Kroger uses the Foods Co name in
Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
, where it is bound by an agreement between Falley's and grocer Nugget Markets, Inc. One Food 4 Less store in Northern California is managed and operated by Nugget. Kroger does not have any administrative control over the single Nugget Food 4 Less store. Nugget's Food 4 Less is limited by its agreement with Fleming in its ability to advertise in circulars. Kroger's Food 4 Less circulars will feature individual products on sale whereas Nugget's Food 4 Less circulars only promote sales events and customer testimony. Ad prices from the Kroger Food 4 Less chain are not honored. The Nugget Food 4 Less store also features a different selection of products than the Kroger Food 4 Less stores due to Nugget's pooling of resources from its upscale Nugget Market stores. Marketing and administration of the Nugget Food 4 Less store is handled through the Nugget Market Corporate Office in Woodland, California, and any requests for other Food 4 Less stores will be deferred to the Kroger Corporate Office in
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. It is unclear whether Nugget Markets and Kroger will continue the Fleming relationship when the franchise agreement expires. Nugget operated a total of three stores in Northern California; in Cameron Park, Vallejo, and Woodland. In 2014, the Food 4 Less in Cameron Park was converted into Fork Lift, a new store concept by Nugget. The Food 4 Less in Vallejo was shuttered on May 15, 2016, leaving the Woodland location as Nugget's sole remaining Food 4 Less store.


Fleming

Fleming was another franchisee of the Food 4 Less name. In early 2003, Fleming filed for bankruptcy, causing the company to place all Fleming owned Food 4 Less stores up for bids to other national grocers. Three stores in
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
were purchased by Albertsons, who retained two stores. The two stores kept the Food 4 Less name until January 2005, when the names changed to the Albertsons owned Super Saver name. Another store in Pinole,
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
became a FoodMaxx, a price-impact store owned by
Save Mart Supermarkets The Save Mart Companies is an American grocery store operator founded and headquartered in Modesto, California. It owns and operates stores under the names of Save Mart, Lucky, Lucky California, FoodMaxx, and Maxx Value Foods. The stores are loc ...
. In
Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...
, only one former Fleming store remained, in
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which was part of th
Mega Foods
local chain of four stores. The remaining store was converted into Mega Foods. An independently run former Fleming store in
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
was closed in January 2013.


PAQ, Inc.

PAQ, Inc., is also another franchisee of the Food 4 Less name with stores in northern California. The franchisee operates Food 4 Less stores in Arroyo Grande,
Atascadero Atascadero ( Spanish for " Mire") is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, about equidistant from Los Angeles and San Francisco on U.S. Route 101. Atascadero is part of the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metropolitan statistical area, ...
, Ceres, Lodi, Los Banos, Manteca,
Paso Robles Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish language, Spanish for "The Pass of Oaks"), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River (California), Sal ...
,
Rio Linda Rio Linda (Spanish: ''Río Linda'', meaning "Pretty River") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sacramento County, California. It is part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 15,106, up from 10,466 a ...
,
Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
(3 stores), Salinas, San Luis Obispo, and
Stockton Stockton may refer to: Places Australia * Stockton, New South Wales * Stockton, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region New Zealand *Stockton, New Zealand United Kingdom *Stockton, Cheshire *Stockton, Norfolk *Stockton, Chirbu ...
(4 stores). Kroger also does not have any administrative control over the PAQ, Inc., Food 4 Less stores. The franchisee also operates Rancho San Miguel Markets, a supermarket specializing in Hispanic offerings.


Gongco Foods

Gongco Foods operates seven franchised Food 4 Less stores in central California. The stores are located in Atwater, Fresno, Madera, Merced, Porterville, Selma, and Visalia. They are also not affiliated with Kroger.


Other ownerships

There are employee-owned and operated Food 4 Less stores in