Jewel Tea

Jewel (Jewel Food Stores; Jewel-Osco) is a grocery store chain that has approximately 200 stores in the Chicago metropolitan area. Jewel was formed in Chicago in 1899, was taken over by American Stores in 1984, and became part of Albertsons holdings in 1999². Jewel with sister company Osco Drug together employ over 45,000 associates. Its customer base gives it a 30% share of the grocery market in Chicagoland ², and 80% of all households in Chicagoland are in a Jewel-Osco store at least once a month.¹

Jewel is a trustworthy name in Chicago, known for spotless stores and good service offerings. Between 1970 and 1990, Jewel moved or expanded most of their stores to be freestanding buildings with ample parking. Prior to this, Jewel stores were located on main arteries of city streets, due to societal trends of higher walking and public transportation traffic, and availabilty and safety of street parking.

Jewel, after its merger with Osco, experimented with side-by-side stores during the 1960s and '70s, but most construction after 1983 consolidated Jewel and Osco stores together as one large store under one roof. The unique nature of this arrangement is that the two stores operate to the customer as one unit, for instance, a customer can check out any items at Jewel or Osco registers, find Jewel and Osco merchandise co-mingled throughout the store, and can call one telephone number to reach their "Jewel-Osco." However, each operating unit keeps its own separate marketing identity to the public as a "food store" or a "drug store." Also, Jewel and Osco stores under the same roof have separate managers, ordering and receiving procedures, budgets, and employees.

An early experiment with this concept that wowed the public was the "Jewel Grand Bazaar", which was built out in one store on the southwest side of Chicago -- a store that encompassed an entire city block. This concept included a selection that was unmatched, bulk packaging, free samples on weekends, and customers were able to be served 24 hours a day. See photos: photos (http://www.wtv-zone.com/dpjohnson/60sdiscountstores/page2.html) This experimental store was in service from 1962 until that particular building was remodeled and updated in the late 1970s.

Workers at Chicago area Jewel stores are members of the UCFW Local 881. Due to the union contract, hourly workers with seniority can make significantly higher wages than in other companies and industries. For this reason, Jewel has a rather stable and very loyal work force.¹

After Albertsons purchase of Jewel, one of the most noticeable trends was a move to integrate more technology in the store operation. There has been some loss of local identity in the transition, as evidenced by Albertsons history and corporate information being featured on the Jewel-Osco website, rather than Jewel's.

Jewel's warehouse and management offices are located in Melrose Park, Illinois.

Contents

1 Organizational Philosophy1 2 Early History 3 Chain Expansion: History 4 Statistics 4.1 Stores3 4.2 Major Competitors 5 Sources 6 External Links

Organizational Philosophy¹

Jewel ideals were documented in a 1972 book written by Jewel senior leaders, "The Jewel Concepts." The concepts, seen as progressive for their time, included good citizenship within their community; watching the horizon; and sponsorship of young people for their (and the company's) future success. In an Illinois Retail Merchants Association online article, retired Jewel-Osco chairman Don Perkins reflects, "Jewel has a tradition of people orientation." Jewel also was progressive in creating partnerships with vendors, at a time when the practice was rare.

Early History

Jewel was founded by Frank Vernon Skiff in 1899 as a door-to-door delivery service for coffee. In 1902 it took the name Jewel Tea Company when Skiff partnered with Frank P. Ross. In 1932 Jewel acquired Chicago's Loblaws stores and converted them to the Jewel name. Jewel sold the home shopping service in 1981.

Chain Expansion: History

Jewel-Osco has steadily expanded in the Chicago area. Only 11 of the chain's Chicago stores are the stand-alone Jewel stores that date back to the 1950s and '60s; the rest are all newer Jewel-Osco concept stores. In the 1980s Jewel attempted to expand to Florida, given a high number of Chicagoans who moved to that state. After a few years, Jewel closed those stores. However, around 2002, Jewel purchased a Milwaukee, Wisconsin food chain and opened 15 Jewel-Osco combo stores in the Milwaukee metro area.

Statistics

Employees: 45,000+

Market Share, Chicago Metro: 30%

Stores³

• Jewel-Osco, Chicago Metro: 190 (+11 stand-alone Jewel = 201)

• Jewel-Osco, Milwaukee Metro: 15

• Jewel-Osco, Central Illinois: 4 (+1 stand-alone Jewel = 5)

• Osco, Chicago Metro: 60 (Osco has additional locations in other states)

• Osco, Milwaukee Metro: 16

Major Competitors

Dominick's (owned by Safeway)

Aldi

Sources

¹http://www.irma.org/retailersoftheyear/contentview.asp?c=5354

²http://www.hoovers.com/jewel-osco/--ID__109103--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml

³http://www.jewel-osco.com

External Links

http://www.anbhf.org/laureates/flunding.html - Early President of Jewel, Franklin Lunding

http://www.hbs.edu/entrepreneurship/newbusiness/pdf/shapingthewavesch1.pdf&e=9707 - "First Assistant" Philosophy of Jewel President Don Perkins (in an article about the founder of Staples)

http://mgv.mim.edu.my/booksearch/booktoc/3204.htm - Book Table of Contents that includes segment on Don Perkins, retired CEO of Jewel