Felpausch was a

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

chain based in

Hastings, Michigan Hastings is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, the county seat of Barry County as well as the county's only city. The population was 7,350 at the 2010 census. The city borders Hastings Charter Township on the north, east, and south, and R ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The first store opened in Hastings in 1933, and the chain operated primarily in the southwestern quadrant of

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 ...

's Lower Peninsula. Its 20 locations were sold to Spartan Stores (now

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 ...

), who largely converted them to

Family Fare Family Fare is an American supermarket chain. A division of SpartanNash, it has operated stores in Michigan since 1966, and also operates in North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. History The first Family Fare store ...

and

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 ...

History

Felpausch was founded in 1933 in

. A store in

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...

was built in 1954. By 1962, the chain was also in

Eaton Rapids Eaton Rapids is a city in Eaton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,214 at the 2010 census. The city is located in the south of Eaton Rapids Township, on the boundary with Hamlin Township, though it is politically indep ...

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

, and

Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...

. In 1971, the Felpausch chain expanded by buying former Harding's Market locations in Delton and

Bronson, Michigan Bronson is a city located in west central Branch County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,349 at the 2010 census. Bronson is situated on U.S. Highway 12 about southwest of Coldwater. The ZIP code is 49028 and the FIPS plac ...

. The Bronson store was sold in 1982. Felpausch was run by the fifth generation of family members, and had been operating as an associate-owned company since 1995. A year later, it bought locations from South Haven-based Village Markets in Dowagiac, Paw Paw, and

Benton Harbor Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is 46 miles southwest of Kalamazoo and 71 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. According to the 2020 census, its population was 9,103. It is the smaller, by population, of ...

. The Benton Harbor store, originally built as Jewel, was closed after only 10 months. A branch in

Battle Creek Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which encom ...

was converted to an upscale prototype called Zucca's in 2004.

Jackson, Michigan Jackson is the only city and county seat of Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534, down from 36,316 at the 2000 census. Located along Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127, it is approxi ...

and another in Battle Creek were both reconfigured in 2006 to have

Ace Hardware Ace Hardware Corporation is an American hardware retailers' cooperative based in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States. It is the world's largest hardware retail cooperative, and the largest non-grocery American retail cooperative. Founded in 1924 ...

franchises. These stores were also converted Jewel locations; the one in Battle Creek opened in 1994 to replace two other locations elsewhere in Battle Creek that had both previously been

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 ...

. The replacement closed in 2008. In March 2007, it was announced that Felpausch was being purchased by Grand Rapids, Michigan distributor and retailer, Spartan Stores (now

). Spartan re-branded most of the locations D&W Fresh Market or Family Fare.

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

was closed and converted to a health office by 2008. The original store in Hastings closed in 2008 and became an Ace Hardware, followed by the closure of

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

in 2009.

Grand Ledge Grand Ledge is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city lies mostly within Eaton County, though a small portion extends into Clinton County to the north. The city sits above the Grand River 12.7 miles (20.4 kilometers) west of downtown La ...

was shuttered in 2013 after a brief conversion to Family Fare. Mason became a

Save-A-Lot Save A Lot Food Stores Ltd. is an American discount supermarket chain store headquartered in St. Ann, Missouri, in Greater St. Louis. It is a subsidiary of Onex Corporation with about 900 independently owned and operated stores across 32 st ...

which closed in January 2015.

References

{{Supermarkets of the United States Companies based in Grand Rapids, Michigan Retail companies established in 1933 Retail companies disestablished in 2007 Hastings, Michigan Defunct supermarkets of the United States 1933 establishments in Michigan 2007 disestablishments in Michigan