Stop & Shop

Infobox Company
company_name = The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company
company_
company_type = Retail
foundation = 1914
founder = The Rabinovitz family
location_city = Quincy, Massachusetts [ [http://www.stopandshop.com/about/news/press_071607.htm Stop & Shop press release] from Stop & Shop's website]
location_country =
origins = Economy Grocery Stores Company
area_served = New England and Mid-Atlantic
industry = Grocery
products = Grocery, Florist, Deli, Gelatin Shop, Produce, Seafood, Meats, Dairy, Pharmacy, General Merchandise
revenue = US$11.17 billion profit6.1% (2003) Bardaro, Michael [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20645-2004Nov29.html Giant's Merger Hurt Morale, Executive Says] ." "Washington Post." November 29, 2004. Retrieved on March 16, 2008.]
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees = 80,000
parent = Royal Ahold
company_slogan = "All the Ingredients"
homepage = [http://www.stopandshop.com/ Stop & Shop]

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company is a chain of supermarkets located mostly in New England and Long Island. It is the fifth largest employer in New England.Fact|date=August 2008

History

Stop & Shop was founded in 1914 in Somerville, Massachusetts by the Rabinowitz family as the Economy Grocery Stores Company. [ [http://www.stopandshop.com/about/ About Stop & Shop - New England's Largest Food Retailer ] ] The company officially became known as Stop & Shop, Inc. in 1946.

Stop & Shop purchased the now-defunct department store chain Bradlees in 1961, and sold it in 1992. It also operated a chain of pharmacies named Medi-Mart, which was sold to Walgreens in the late 1980s, as well as Perkins Tobacco Stores in the 1960s and 1970s.

Stop & Shop is now the largest food retailer based in New England (though rival retailer Shaws is the largest supermarket chain whose stores are located solely in the six New England states). It operates more than 360 stores throughout New England, as well as in New York and New Jersey. The corporate headquarters is located in Quincy, Massachusetts and the current distribution facility is located in Assonet, Massachusetts. Until 2006 the firm also operated a large warehouse located off of Interstate 91 in North Haven, Connecticut. The company's original warehouse was in Readville, Massachusetts.

In the late 1980s, The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company was acquired by leveraged buyout specialists Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. Shortly thereafter, Medi-Mart was sold to Walgreens, and Bradlees was spun off as its own corporation. After a period of several years in which KKR explored merger possibilities with Safeway (which it also controlled at the time), Stop & Shopwas sold at public offering.

.

In 1994, Giant-Landover began northern expansion by opening stores in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey under the Super G trade name. This was done to differentiate itself from future sister company Giant Food of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. During 2005, the newly formed Stop & Shop/Giant made the decision to phase out the Super G name in New Jersey and Delaware. In New Jersey, four Super G stores were shuttered and the remaining eight stores were converted to the Super Stop & Shop banner and became a part of Stop & Shop's Metro New York division in an attempt to revive sales at the stores. (The stores continued to underperform and were subsequently sold in 2007 to ShopRite Supermarkets.) The Delaware Super G stores were to be remodeled and reopened as Super Giant.

In 2006, Stop & Shop signed a contract with Starbucks Coffee Company, placing Starbucks licensed stores inside certain supermarkets. Many Stop & Shop stores currently feature Dunkin' Donuts outlets inside the store. Also in May 2006, Stop & Shop began piloting the Shopping Buddy program in select stores in Massachusetts and Connecticut. The Shopping Buddy is a personal shopping assistant that allows customers to track their purchases and to do in-cart bagging as they move through the store.

In October 2007, Stop & Shop launched an advertising campaign which was intended to have users submit stories and videos to a website ( [http://www.stopandshop.tv/ stopandshop.tv] ) detailing their Stop and Shop experiences. The campaign was significant in that it is an early example of a regional traditional brand employing Web 2.0 concepts such as user generated content to promote their stores.

On August 22, 2008, Stop & Shop changed its logo as a rebranding project along with its sister company, Giant-Landover.

Brands

in-house brand sodaAs part of Stop & Shop's market realignment, they have introduced new private-label products to their stores. Fact|date=June 2007

Stop & Shop also has numerous in-house brands including:
* Sun Glory (Value Priced items, now discontinued)
* CareOne (Health and Beauty Care)
* Acadia (Spring Water Products)
* Nature's Promise (Natural and Organic Foods)
* Orchard Perfect (Limited Produce Label)
* Clear Splash and Main Street (Carbonated Beverages)
* Pure Power/Pure Softness (Cleaning Supplies)
* Javana (Coffee)
* Companion (Pet Food)
* MiCasa (Hispanic Items)
* White Gem (Chicken)
* Cottontails (Diapers and Accessories)
* Guaranteed Value (Value Priced items)
* KaPop (Popcorn)
* Festingos (Tortilla Chips)
* Cokacola (Soda)
* Smart Living (General Merchandise)
* and their newest line of high-priced luxury snacks, Simply Enjoy.

Contract negotiations and complications

On February 17, 2007, the contract with Stop & Shop employees expired after three years. In an attempt to maintain their current health care benefits, union workers threatened to strike. It was understood that no strike would occur until at least Thursday, February 22, 2007. If a new contract was not signed by then, workers could begin the walk out as early as Friday, February 23, 2007. Stop & Shop wanted employees to share the cost of healthcare, but union workers believe Stop & Shop should pay it in full. [http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=6117858&nav=3YeX Still no contract for Stop & Shop] www.wtnh.com]

Workers were paying co-payments for office visits and medical procedures, as well as deductibles of $300 for health care costs and $2,500 for hospital costs. The grocery chain wanted to implement weekly contributions of between $5 and $21 on top of the co-payments. These fees would increase over the course of the three-year contract.

At midnight on February 23, 2007, grocery workers at the Stop & Shop supermarket chain in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts had voted overwhelmingly to reject a contract proposal and to authorize a strike against the grocery chain. The contracts for United Food and Commercial Workers Locals 328, 371, 919, 1445 and 1459 expired on February 17 and extended to cover until the February 22, but the union and the grocery chain agreed to expand the deadline two more days, to midnight of Saturday, February 24, 2007. [ [http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2?JServSessionIdr001=e93358bbn1.app13a&page=NewsArticle&id=6451&news_iv_ctrl=1261 Grocery workers fight Stop & Shop for contract] www.pslweb.org]

Officials with Stop & Shop and the United Food and Commercial Workers continued negotiating through Friday, March 2, 2007, extending the contract until 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 32007, given that talks were scheduled to continue through Friday. Both sides extended the negotiations, which resumed Monday, February 26, 2007. [ [http://www.courant.com/business/hc-ctbriefs0228.artfeb28,0,6207628.story?coll=hc-headlines-business Stop & Shop, Union Extends Negotiations] www.courant.com]

On Saturday, March 3, 2007, the five unions involved gave the company a very complicated and comprehensive contract proposal that covers every aspect of their five agreements and identifies what they believe to be a fair and equitable contract for everyone. On Wednesday, March 7, 2007, the five locals representing workers in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts scheduled voting on a new contract for Sunday, extending the strike deadline for Monday, March 12, 2007. The locals delivered a comprehensive contract to Stop & Shop negotiators Saturday and the two sides took a break from bargaining to allow the company to go over the proposal. Approximately 43,000 unionized Stop & Shop workers in three states could have either had a new contract that Sunday or begun walking picket lines possibly that Monday, according to union officials. [ [http://www.connpost.com/ci_5382812 Stop & Shop faces Sunday vote] www.connpost.com]

New Contract

The contentious stop-and-go negotiations between Stop & Shop and its five unions came to a surprising yet happy conclusion with a three-year contract overwhelmingly ratified by union members across New England, and a strike was averted.

All full-time workers will receive an increase of $25 per week retroactive to February 17, when the previous contract expired; then another $20 weekly increase in March 2008 and March 2009, the second and third years of the contract. Part-timers receive an immediate 35¢-an-hour increase, also retroactive, and 35¢ yet again in years two and three of the contract. On the critical issue of health care, full-time workers who are single must now contribute $5 per week toward their health insurance premiums; married workers with spouse must pay $10, and a worker with a family $15. Part-time workers will make no contributions toward health care premiums, retaining the current practice which covers union workers health insurance entirely except for co-payments and deductibles. [ [http://www.newhavenindependent.org/HealthCare/archives/2007/03/_the_contentiou.html Stop & Shop averts strike once and for all] www.newhavenindependent.org]

See also

*Stop-n-Shop, an unrelated Ohio-based supermarket specializing in home delivery. [http://www.stop-n-shop.com/]

In popular culture

*The Modern Lovers' song "Roadrunner", written by Jonathan Richman, cites "Gonna drive past the Stop & Shop / With the radio on now / I'm in love with the modern world / Massachusetts when it's cold outside."
*Stop & Shop is mentioned and shown on the FOX comedy "Family Guy", which takes place in Rhode Island.
*An episode of "Wings", which is based in Nantucket, had Fay warn the Hackett brothers about what happened to the owners of Sconset Air (the predecessors to Sandpiper Air). She said they had misplaced one of the luggage of the wealthiest and most powerful woman in Nantucket, who was able to get their loan voided and they were "last seen making slushees at the Stop & Shop".
* In an episode of the "The Sopranos", Tony is seen shopping in Stop & Shop #817 Hackensack, NJ. Fact|date=February 2008
* Although not of New England origin, rapper Yung Joc refers to Stop & Shop in the lyrics: "this the neighborhood's number one stop n shop," from the song "Coffee Shop."
* Playaz Circle's music video features a gas station titled Stop-N-Shop for the song "Duffle Bag Boy". Months later, the video was altered to censor the titles.
* In "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody", which takes place in Boston, the fictional store, called Paul Revere's Mini Mart, has a competitive grocery store across the street called the Betsy Ross Stop & Shop. This possibly alludes to the real Stop & Shop.
* In "Drake and Josh", Josh mentions that he got a date with the bagger at the Stop & Shop.
* The song "The War Criminal Rises and Speaks" by Okkervil River makes mention of Stop & Shop.
* Stop & Shop is shown in the crime movie "Family Enforcer", in which the lead characters rob the manager.
* Stop & Stop was mentioned on season 5 of "Project Runway", where the contestant Stella insulted another contestant's work by saying "I wouldn't wear that to the Stop & Shop".

External links

* [http://www.stopandshop.com/ Official Web Site]
* [http://www.stopandshop.tv/ Web 2.0 Site With User Generated Content]
* [http://www.ahold.com/ Website of Ahold, Stop & Shop's parent company]

References

* [http://www.freewebs.com/thingmaster/ Stop and Shop fanclub site]