Family Fare is an American

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

chain. A division of

SpartanNash SpartanNash (formerly Spartan Stores, Nash Finch) is an American food distributor and grocery store retailer headquartered in Byron Center, Michigan. The company's core businesses include distributing food to independent grocers, military co ...

, it has operated stores in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

since 1966, and also operates in

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

History

The first Family Fare store opened in 1966 in

Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River (formerly known locally as the Black River). ...

. It was an existing supermarket which was acquired in 1973 by Don Koop. By the 1990s, the chain was owned by Spartan Stores (now

), and had added locations in Byron Center and Lowell. Family Fare expanded into

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

in the late 1980s with four stores, but closed all four in 1995. In 2004, Spartan began consolidating most of its nameplates into two brands:

Glen's Markets Glen's Markets was an American supermarket chain founded in Gaylord, Michigan in 1951. The chain had over 20 stores throughout northern Michigan at its peak. It was a subsidiary of SpartanNash, who converted most of the chain's locations to its ...

in northern lower Michigan, and Family Fare in southern lower Michigan. This change rebranded three locations of Prevo's Markets in Grand Rapids (which themselves had previously been known as Daane's) to Family Fare, as well as the Great Day chain, while the rest of the Prevo's became Glen's. Spartan expanded Family Fare in 2007 when some locations of

Felpausch Felpausch was a grocery store chain based in Hastings, Michigan, United States. The first store opened in Hastings in 1933, and the chain operated primarily in the southwestern quadrant of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Its 20 locations were sold t ...

were converted (mostly in the

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, Michigan, Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle C ...

area), with others becoming

D&W Fresh Market D&W Fresh Market is an American supermarket chain owned and operated by SpartanNash. Begun in Grandville, Michigan, the chain consists of ten stores, nine of which are in the southwestern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. History D&W Fresh Market wa ...

instead. Family Fare began expanding into northern Michigan in 2010 when a Glen's (formerly Ashcraft's) in Midland was converted. Starting in 2013, Spartan converted more Glen's to Family Fare; the conversions finished in 2014 with Frankfort and Sault Ste. Marie. Other locations were rebranded from D&W Fresh Market around the same time, including Rockford and Grandville. In November 2014, the first locations opened in the

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo ( /ˈfɑɹɡoʊ/) is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 125,990, making it the most populous city in the state and the 219th-most populous city in ...

metropolitan area through conversions from

Econofoods Econofoods is a grocery chain located in the US which, at its peak, had stores in Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Iowa, Wyoming, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Econofoods was formerly a brand of SpartanNash, and was listed ...

and Sunmart. Two years later, Family Fare entered

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

through the conversion of the No Frills brand. Further conversion from Econofoods in 2018 resulted in the chain's first stores in

References

{{Supermarkets of the United States American companies established in 1966 Retail companies established in 1966 1966 establishments in Michigan Companies based in Kent County, Michigan Supermarkets of the United States