User:TheListUpdater/National

The National Tea Company (NATCO, informally known as National) was a large Midwestern United States grocery chain that operated during the 20th century. With ownership by Loblaw Companies, the company declined until finally being sold to Schnucks Markets and Schwegmann in 1995.

Company history
Founded in 1899 by Danish immigrant George S. Rasmussen along with his brother Thorvald in Chicago, Illinois, the retailer spread to about 160 stores by 1920, and annual sales approached $13 million. By the end of the '20s, National Tea had over 600 locations in the Chicago area alone and another 1,000 stores nationwide. Sales grew to about $90 million a year. Many of these stores were closed or sold during the Great Depression, but National Tea remained among the 10 largest grocery chains in the United States for most of the 20th century.

In 1955, when annual sales topped $600 million and the company had nearly 20,000 employees nationwide, National Tea was purchased by George Weston Ltd., a large Canadian grocery retailer, later renamed Loblaw Companies. Loblaws did not fully take control of the company until 1982. Most National stores were in the Mississippi Valley, including in Louisiana. During that time, it was the fifth largest chain in the United States, with only A&P, Safeway, Kroger, and Food Fair being larger. Among the chains National acquired in the 1950s were smaller chains, like Miller's (Mobile, Alabama), Standard (Indianapolis), and Applebaum's (Minneapolis). Besides the National and Standard banners, Big D and Del Farm banners were used in the Midwest and That Stanley! was used in the South.

At its height, National's footprint extended from western Pennsylvania to Colorado, with stores in Denver, Sioux Falls, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, the Quad Cities, Indianapolis, Chicago, Youngstown, Memphis, and Nashville. It was the largest supermarket chain serving the Mississippi Valley. Major rivals included Jewel, Red Owl, Kroger, A&P, Dominick's, Eagle Food Centers, Hy-Vee, Marsh's, Winn-Dixie, Hill's, Fisher/Fazio's/Costa, Thorofare, and Safeway, depending on the market.

In the 1980s, the National Supermarkets logo was Loblaw's logo turned upside down to look like an "n" instead of an "L". thumb|National logo used for both divisions in the USA

By the early 1990s, National, now National Supermarkets, was only in the greater St. Louis area and New Orleans area, with both divisions operating. The St. Louis division was the second largest chain in the city, second only to Schnucks and had cemented its number two spot by acquiring several former Kroger locations and the Kroger distribution center in the market when the latter exited St. Louis in 1986. Kroger and National had been battling for the number two and three spots in the St. Louis market since the 1970s, swapping rankings several times over throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Slogans
At the height of their market share in the late 1960s, National Supermarkets' slogans used in television advertising included "Super National-Market" and "The Underpricer". In their final years in the 1980s and early 1990s, the National slogan in the St. Louis market was, "You Are Important to Us!"

Sale to Schnucks and Schwegmann
In June 1995, Schnucks Markets acquired the company from Loblaws. Immediately after that, per the FTC, Schnucks sold the National New Orleans division to Schwegmann Giant Super Markets of Metairie, Louisiana.

National Markets
While the National name did continue in New Orleans under Schwegmann until the collapse in 1999, another National branded store opened in St. Louis. Because Schnucks had to sell off 24 stores for anti-trust reasons, in 1996, Family Company of America, a group led by Belleville, Illinois financial consultant James R. Gibson, bought 23 of those stores from Schnucks and reopened them under the name National Markets. However, the new National was unable to make much headway against Schnucks, and disappeared for good in April 1999.

After the bankruptcy, it emerged that Gibson had financed the purchase with money embezzled from 183 clients of his investment company, among them orphans, accident victims who trusted Gibson to invest money from their settlements, and disabled people who trusted him with their life savings. In 2005, Gibson was sentenced to 40 years in prison for his crimes. He will not be eligible for release until 2036, when he will be 91 years old.

National Supermarket Murders
Shortly after closing on September 4, 1987 at the National Supermarket at 4331 Natural Bridge Avenue in St. Louis, two men disguised as the cleaning crew made their way into the store where employees were preparing for the next day. They shot seven employees execution-style as they laid on the floor, killing five. It remains one of the worst mass murders in St. Louis history.

The Real Superstore
Like with Loblaws brand, The Real Canadian Superstore, a similar concept was developed in the New Orleans division.