Red Owl was a

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 in the

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 ...

, headquartered in Hopkins, Minnesota. Founded in 1922, it was initially owned and operated by a private investment firm affiliated with General Mills, and purchased in 1968 by Gamble-Skogmo.

History

Red Owl started as a coal company in the 1920s. It opened its first store in

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. It is located along rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a popul ...

. Eventually there were stores throughout the

Upper Midwest The Upper Midwest is a northern subregion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed upon, the region is usually defined to include the states of Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wi ...

, with one having opened in

Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck (; from 1872 to 1873: Edwinton) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat, seat of Burleigh County, North Dakota, Burleigh County. It is the state's List of cities i ...

, in 1927. The chain briefly expanded into the Chicago area starting in late 1959, but in 1963 sold its Chicago area operations to National Tea Company. In 1980, Gamble-Skogmo was acquired by Wickes Corporation, which sold the chain to three executives of the chain in January 1986. At that time, the company operated 441 stores in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and North and South Dakota. In December 1988, the rights to the Red Owl name were obtained by grocery wholesaler Supervalu Inc.,"Red Owl Logo Returns to LeRoy Grocery"
Laura Gossman, '' Rochester Post-Bulletin'', January 7, 2009 along with its warehouse and distribution operations. Supervalu phased out the Red Owl name. Red Owl operated radio stations KRSI,

WEBC WEBC (560 Hertz, kHz) is a commercial radio, commercial AM broadcasting, AM radio station in Duluth, Minnesota, and serving the Duluth-Superior media market, radio market. It is owned by Townsquare Media and it airs a sports radio, sports rad ...

and WNAX in the 1960s.

In popular culture

From 1973 to 1977, the title sequence of ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 ...

'' featured the lead character in a Red Owl meat department. An independent grocery store in Saint Paul, MN, Cooper's Foods, was redecorated as a Red Owl to be featured in the 2009

Coen Brothers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, together known as the Coen brothers (), are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Among their most acclaimed works are '' Blood Simple'' (198 ...

movie '' A Serious Man''. In Season 3, Episode 1 of FX's '' Fargo'' a Red Owl is featured. In Season 9, Episode 9 of the '' Sci-Fi Channel's'' ''

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on WUCW, KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. It then ...

'' which features the 1980 Italian film '' The Pumaman'', Mike uses some of the movie's music which resembles commercial theme music to make up a jingle with the phrase "Dick's Red Owl, selection and service!". ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' originated in Hopkins, MN, which was Red Owl's headquarters. A pharmacy named Value Drug Mart in

Drumheller Drumheller is a town on the Red Deer River in the badlands of east-central Alberta, Canada. It is located northeast of Calgary and south of Stettler. The Drumheller portion of the Red Deer River valley, often referred to as Dinosaur Vall ...

Alberta, Canada Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, was redecorated as a Red Owl food store for the 2020 film '' Let Him Go''.

Masons Red Owl

Founded on February 1, 1969, Masons Red Owl was the first franchised Red Owl store in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Three years later, the owners, Mervin and Jared Mason, purchased a second Red Owl franchise in

De Pere, Wisconsin De Pere ( ) is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 25,410 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Green Bay metropolitan area. History When the first European, Jean Nicolet, visited the p ...

. At that time, Masons Red Owl was incorporated from a partnership into the MEJ Corporation. By 1985, the Green Bay area witnessed the introduction of several other grocery stores, including a Cub Foods and a Copps Food Center. At this point, the De Pere location was sold and efforts were refocused on the original franchise. In 1988, SuperValu Corporation purchased Red Owl's Green Bay warehouse, making it the supplier for Masons Red Owl. In 1989 the store expanded to include a full-service deli department, and remained in 2023 as one of the smallest full-service grocery retailers. Masons Red Owl faces competition in the Green Bay area from other grocers including Woodman's,

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

, Aldi and Festival Foods.

Red Owl Family Center

In the late 60's early 70's Red Owl opened a small chain of family centers, similar to what Grand Union Supermarkets did with their Grand Way stores.

References

http://m.startribune.com/gone-30-years-red-owl-supermarkets-still-live-on-in-its-employees-memories/471333454/

External links