Remke Markets is a chain of American supermarkets in the

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

metropolitan area.

History

Remke Markets was founded in 1897 as a meat market in

Covington, Kentucky Covington is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States, located at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking Rivers. Cincinnati, Ohio, lies to its immediate north across the Ohio and Newport, to its east across the Licking ...

, by William Remke, the supermarket has grown and now has 6 locations. The supermarket merged with the struggling Bigg's division of SuperValu in 2010. On February 24, 2017, Remke Markets announced that it would be acquired by Generative Growth, LLC and managed by affiliated company Fresh Encounter, Inc. post-acquisition. On November 3, 2018, Remke announced that they would shutter two underperforming locations, one in the Skytop Pavilion shopping center in Anderson Township, and the other on Delhi Pike in Delhi Township by the end of that month. The closing of its Hebron, KY store was announced on March 4, 2019. This closing left six locations operating under the Remke Markets banner.

bigg's

Bigg's (branded as bigg's) was a chain of

hypermarket A hypermarket (sometimes called a hyperstore, supercentre or superstore) is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, includin ...

s in southern Ohio, primarily in the Cincinnati area. As a

, in addition to groceries it sold clothing, general merchandise, lumber, shoes, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics, toys, garden supplies and housewares. It was founded by Hyper Shoppes Inc., a firm owned by three French companies and SuperValu, which bought the entirety of the company in 1994. They used to operate over 13 bigg's stores, but later pared it down to eleven. In 1984, Bigg's opened their first location in the Eastgate mall area of Union Township, a suburb of Cincinnati. Bigg's attempted an expansion into the

western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...

in 1989 with a location in the

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, suburb of Thornton. Initially it was successful and popular, and was an anchor of the Thornton Town Center. Plans for further Denver metropolitan area locations (and ultimately the western U.S.) were discussed but never realized. Over time the Thornton location became less popular and shrank in size, and ultimately ceased operation in 2003. After its demise, it was demolished as part of a redevelopment of the Center, and a

Walmart Supercenter 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 from the United States, headquarter ...

was built on its former site. Bigg's mason

In 1994, Bigg's, with seven locations, was acquired by SuperValu. In 2006, the company closed its

Clarksville, Indiana Clarksville is a town in Clark County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River and is a part of the Louisville Metropolitan area. The population was 22,333 at the 2020 census. The town was founded in 1783 by early resident George Rogers Cla ...

, location, the company's only location in Indiana. The Clarksville store, unlike the typical bigg's, was a grocery only store. The company has been facing financial losses due to increasing competition with other brands such as

Walmart 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 from the United States, headquarter ...

Meijer Meijer Inc. (, ; stylized as meijer) is an American supercenter chain that primarily operates throughout the Midwest. Its corporate headquarters are in Walker, Michigan, which is a part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. Founded in 1934 as ...

and

Kroger The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States. Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincin ...

. In 2006, SuperValu appointed Steve "KAZ" Kaczynski President of bigg's. Since then, Kaczynski has taken over five stores that have been remodeled to their new Premium, Fresh & Healthy formats, that have proved to be highly successful and profitable. In June 2008, Biggs closed their

Cincinnati Mills Forest Fair Village (formerly Cincinnati Mall, Cincinnati Mills, and Forest Fair Mall) is an abandoned shopping mall in the northern suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is situated on the border between Forest Park and Fairfield, at ...

location due to declining sales. It was the mall's largest tenant. In 2009, Kaczynski left, and on March 29, 2010, SuperValu announced that it would be selling six Bigg's locations to Remke Markets and would close the remaining five. On April 8, Remke announced it would be buying a seventh store in

Harrison Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places In Australia: * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin In Canada: * Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...

that had been scheduled to close. Remke said that the stores it purchases would retain the Bigg's brand immediately after the transfer, but they may make changes in the future. The stores not purchased were closed in June 2010. The Bigg's in Eastgate closed and became a second location of

Jungle Jim's International Market Jungle Jim's International Market, formerly Jungle Jim's Farmer's Market, is a large supermarket in Fairfield, Ohio, with a satellite location in Union Township, Clermont County, both near Cincinnati. The main location has been described as a ...

. The remaining Bigg's were renovated to remove the general merchandise (in the stores that had them) and were renamed Remke Markets bigg's. In October 2013, it was announced that the Remke bigg's banner would be dropped and all Remke bigg's locations would assume the Remke Markets banner.Remke Markets dropping bigg's name from all storesArchived copy
Cincinnati.com, October 10, 2013

References

External links

Official website
{{Supermarkets of the United States Supermarkets of the United States Hypermarkets of the United States Retail companies established in 1897 Companies based in Kentucky 1897 establishments in Kentucky American companies established in 1897 Kenton County, Kentucky