Sidney "Sid" Applebaum (February 28, 1924 – August 6, 2016) was an American businessman, the cofounder of Rainbow Foods.

Biography

Sidney Applebaum was born in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

, on February 28, 1924, to Oscar and Bertha Applebaum. He was the youngest son and second youngest child of nine. His parents immigrated to the United States from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

on their honeymoon. Oscar Applebaum sold produce door-to-door in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

, from a horse-drawn wagon. Oscar opened a

fruit stand A fruit stand is a primarily open-air business venue that sells seasonal fruit and many fruit products from local growers. It might also sell vegetables and various processed items derived from fruit. The fruit stand is a small business structure ...

on the corner of St. Peter and 7th streets in downtown St. Paul with a $65 loan from his eldest son. That fruit stand became the first Applebaum's Food Market. As a young boy, Sid Applebaum bundled soap, bagged rice, worked as a box boy and delivered fruit and produce for his father's fruit stand. Applebaum graduated from Humboldt Senior High School in St. Paul and continued to grow the family business. By 1979, the family business included about 30 metro-area Applebaum's stores and one in

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

. In 1979, the chain was sold to National Tea Co., and Applebaum continued on, working for them. The chain was subsequently sold to Gateway Foods. Sid Applebaum and Gateway Foods CEO, D. B. Reinhart, grew the Applebaum's supermarket chain to become the second-largest grocery chain in the

Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is commonly known as the Twin Citi ...

area by embracing Applebaum's idea to launch Rainbow Foods by converting some of the old Applebaum stores to the new brand. The chain was founded October 1, 1983. Applebaum was president of Rainbow Foods through several ownership changes until 1996. In 1997, Applebaum bought four Holiday Foods stores in Bloomington, Fridley,

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymout ...

and Burnsville. Eighteen months later, the stores were sold to Supervalu and were converted to Cub Foods stores. In his final days, he became ill and used a walker. However, Sid Applebaum worked until less than a week before his death in

Minnetonka Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 53,781. Minnetonka is the ...

on August 6, 2016, at the age of 92. Applebaum and his wife, Lorraine, would have celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on September 17, 2016. Besides his wife and son and daughter, survivors include another daughter, Nancy Rosenberg of Minnetonka, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Applebaum, Sid 1924 births 2016 deaths Businesspeople from Saint Paul, Minnesota American people of Russian-Jewish descent 20th-century American businesspeople