King Soopers is a

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 ...

brand of

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 ...

located in the Rocky Mountains of the United States. It started as its own brand and, today, is headquartered in

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 Unite ...

. King Soopers has a significant presence in the state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. The stores are located along the

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered ...

from

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistica ...

, to

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 111,876 at the 2020 United States Census, making Pueblo the ninth most popu ...

. There are also a few locations in the

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...

west of

Denver Denver () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States#State capital, capital, and List of municipalities in Colorado#, most populous city of th ...

and

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since 2 ...

History

Early history

Lloyd J. King, born April 21, 1906, in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

, discharged from the navy in 1947 and in that year, opened the first King Soopers with Charles W. Houchens in

Arvada, Colorado Arvada () is a home rule municipality located in Jefferson and Adams counties, Colorado, United States. The city population was 124,402 at the 2020 United States Census, with 121,510 residing in Jefferson County and 2,892 residing in Adams Co ...

. This location has since been demolished for Arvada's Public Library, built in 2005–06. The name "King Soopers" was derived from Lloyd's family name and an alternate spelling of the word "super!" from the Archie comics series that one of his two sons, Larry, read. Within the next five years, King Soopers became the first

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, an ...

in the country to open an in-store pharmacy and one of the earliest to have a meat department.

Ownership changes

King Soopers grew to be five (or nine) stores large, including Denver and

before being bought out by Dillon Companies in 1957. The original King Soopers location would be relocated from today-Olde Town Arvada to Arvada Plaza, and that location is still open today. King Soopers' then-parent, Dillon Companies was bought out by

The Kroger Company 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 ...

in late 1982 into '83, and King Soopers and Dillon's are both still owned by Kroger today.

Fresh Fare King Soopers

In 2012, Kroger expanded its Fresh Fare style of supermarkets into the King Soopers brand, opening the first Fresh Fare King Soopers in Englewood, Colorado. This is a concept that first appeared in Kroger as early as 2007 and actually seems to have started with

Ralphs Ralphs is an American supermarket chain in Southern California. The largest subsidiary of Cincinnati-based Kroger, it is the oldest such chain west of the Mississippi River. Kroger also operates stores under the Food 4 Less and Foods Co. names ...

, another Kroger subsidiary primarily located in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...

in 1998. The main idea of Fresh Fare is to be a bit more upscale in that it sells more organic foods while still selling traditional groceries; it follows the themes of the 'Green Grocer' Concept.

King Soopers Marketplace

In 2012, the first King Soopers Marketplace opened, just one year after the first Kroger Marketplace in Texas. As of 2017, there are ten King Soopers Marketplace locations all located in Colorado. The marketplace concept is much different compared to Fresh Fare; it is based on

Fred Meyer Fred Meyer is an American chain of hypermarket superstores founded in 1922 in Portland, Oregon, USA, by Fred G. Meyer. The stores are found in the northwest U.S., within the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska. The company merged ...

stores, (which have spawned multiple Marketplace stores under other Kroger banners), and features an even wider selection of products besides just food and other necessities.

Modern day

Since King Soopers was started, a rough total of 118 King Soopers were opened, many of which are still open today, and most of which are in Colorado except for one, located in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

References

External links

Homepage

Kroger corporate homepage
{{Authority control 1947 establishments in Colorado Arvada, Colorado Companies based in Denver Companies based in Jefferson County, Colorado Economy of the Southwestern United States Kroger Retail companies established in 1947 Supermarkets of the United States