King Soopers is an American supermarket chain located in the Rocky Mountains of the United States. It started as its own brand, and is now a subsidiary of Kroger. It is headquartered in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. King Soopers has a significant presence in the state of

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. The stores are located along the Front Range from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Pueblo, Colorado. There are also a few locations in the

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geography, geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an highland, upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low terrain, relief hill ...

west of

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

and Colorado Springs.

History

Early history

Lloyd J. King opened the first King Soopers with Charles W. Houchens and Robert C. Loury. and This location has since been demolished for Arvada's Public Library, built in 2005–06. The name "King Soopers" was derived from Lloyd's family name and an alternate spelling of the word "super!" from the Archie comics series that one of his two sons, Larry, read. Within the next five years, King Soopers became the first

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 ...

in the country to open an in-store pharmacy and one of the earliest to have a meat department.

Ownership changes

King Soopers grew to several stores in the Denver metro area and Colorado Springs, before being bought out by Dillon Companies in 1957. The original King Soopers location was relocated from Olde Town Arvada to Arvada Plaza. King Soopers' then-parent, Dillon Companies, was bought out by The Kroger Company in 1982–83, and King Soopers and Dillon's are both still owned by Kroger today.

Fresh Fare King Soopers

In 2012, Kroger expanded its Fresh Fare style of supermarkets into the King Soopers brand, opening the first Fresh Fare King Soopers in Englewood, Colorado. This is a concept that first appeared in Kroger as early as 2007 and actually seems to have started with Ralphs, another Kroger subsidiary primarily located in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 1998. The main idea of Fresh Fare is to be a bit more upscale in that it sells more organic foods while still selling traditional groceries; it follows the themes of the 'Green Grocer' Concept.

King Soopers Marketplace

In 2012, the first King Soopers Marketplace opened, just one year after the first Kroger Marketplace in Texas. As of 2017, there are ten King Soopers Marketplace locations all located in Colorado. The marketplace concept is based on Fred Meyer stores (which have spawned multiple Marketplace stores under other Kroger banners), and features a wider selection of products besides just food and other necessities.

Modern day

As of June 2025, King Soopers operates 120 locations. All are located in Colorado except for one, located in Cheyenne, Wyoming. In October 2022, Kroger and major competitor Albertsons announced a merger agreement. That plan has been challenged in court by several states. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser summarized consumer and worker opposition: the merger "would lead to stores closing, higher prices, fewer jobs, worse customer service, and less resilient supply chains.”

References

External links

Homepage

Kroger corporate homepage
{{Authority control 1947 establishments in Colorado Arvada, Colorado Companies based in Denver Companies based in Jefferson County, Colorado Economy of the Southwestern United States Kroger Retail companies established in 1947 Supermarkets of the United States