Fleming Companies, Inc. was founded as Lux Mercantile in
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...
, in 1915 by O. A. Fleming, Gene Wilson and Samuel Lux.
In 1921 the company's name was changed to Fleming-Wilson, and in 1941, the company name was changed again to The Fleming Company. Ned Fleming, son of O.A., was named president, chairman, and CEO.
Fleming became the nation's largest grocery wholesaler in 1991 with its purchase of
Furr's Supermarkets; it lost that title in 1992 to
SuperValu, but regained it in 1994 after its purchase of fellow
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...
firm Scrivner Inc., the third-largest wholesaler.
Bankruptcy
Fleming Companies announced in April 2003 that it had filed for reorganization under
Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...
.
The company's fortunes had suffered considerably over the previous two years as the result of an investigation by the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...
into questionable business and accounting practices. Fleming had also faced a class-action lawsuit from its shareholders over the validity of its public statements, ended its relationship with its largest customer,
Kmart
Kmart ( ), formerly legally registered as Kmart Corporation, now operated by Transformco, is a department-store chain and online retailer in the United States and Territories of the United States, its territories. It operates four remaining Kma ...
,
and saw its stock price drop to less than one dollar per share.
In August 2003,
C&S Wholesale Grocers,
Grocers Supply Company,
Associated Grocers of Florida, and
Associated Wholesale Grocers bought the wholesale grocery business of Fleming.
References
External links
{{authority control
Retail companies of the United States
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2003