Kessel Food Markets was an American supermarket chain based in

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. It began in 1981 when Owosso, Michigan, native Al Kessel, a former executive vice president of

Hamady Brothers Hamady was an American supermarket chain based in Flint, Michigan, United States, which at its peak had 37 stores and 1,300 employees. Given the chain's pervasiveness in the area, paper grocery bags were known as “Hamady sacks”. History Hamady ...

supermarkets, purchased

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 Cinci ...

locations in Corunna and

Saginaw Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

. Kroger closed these stores due to Michigan's poor economy at the time, and failure to reach union agreements. After Kroger closed all five of its

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...

locations in 1982 for the same reasons, Kessel purchased them as well, followed by 13 Hamady stores after that chain filed for bankruptcy in 1991. At its peak, Kessel Food Markets comprised 24 stores. Kessel filmed his own television commercials for the chain, in which he would throw items into a grocery cart and state, "Save at Kessel this week. Why? Because we're with you." The Kessel chain was frequently targeted by workers' unions in Saginaw. By 1999, four of the Kessel stores had been converted to

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 ...

or closed, while the rest were sold to Kroger, which briefly continued to operate them under the Kessel name before converting them. Kessel's company, Kessel Enterprises of

Grand Blanc, Michigan Grand Blanc is a city in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan and a suburb of Flint. The population was 7,784 as of the 2020 US Census. History The unincorporated village of Grand Blanc, or Grumlaw, was a former Indian campground firs ...

, continued to operate the Save-a-Lot stores and local

Pet Supplies Plus Pet Supplies Plus (also styled Pet Supplies "Plus"), founded in 1988 in Redford, Michigan in the United States, is a privately held pet supply retailing corporation with a major presence in the US. As of 2005, it was the third largest specialty p ...

stores. Kessel died December 28, 2012 at age 74 of esophageal cancer, in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

References

{{Supermarkets of the United States Retail companies established in 1981 Retail companies disestablished in 1999 Kroger Defunct supermarkets of the United States Defunct companies based in Michigan 1981 establishments in Michigan 1999 disestablishments in Michigan