Independent grocers, by nature of usually being family-owned, aren’t often considered to be large supermarket operators. Taken collectively, however, they do account for 25 percent of retail grocery sales, according the National Grocers Association (NGA), with the 21,000 stores bringing in $131 billion in annual sales, making them the biggest “grocer” when it comes to store locations.
They can’t be ranked collectively, though, as they don’t operate as one unit. Taking a broad definition of an independent supermarket, several made this year’s list of Super 50 grocers, including but not limited to Wegmans Food Markets (family-owned), at No. 13; Hy-Vee (employee-owned and not publicly traded), at No. 14; Demoulas/Market Basket, at No. 25; Schnuck Markets, at No. 31; Woodman’s Food Market, at No. 43; Lowe’s Pay-N-Save (operating in the southwestern United States), at No. 45; Marc Glassman Inc., at No. 46; Alex Lee Inc. (family-owned and operates Lowes in the Southeast), at No.49; and Coborn’s (employee-owned), new this year to the ranking, at No. 50.
They can’t be ranked collectively, though, as they don’t operate as one unit. Taking a broad definition of an independent supermarket, several made this year’s list of Super 50 grocers, including but not limited to Wegmans Food Markets (family-owned), at No. 13; Hy-Vee (employee-owned and not publicly traded), at No. 14; Demoulas/Market Basket, at No. 25; Schnuck Markets, at No. 31; Woodman’s Food Market, at No. 43; Lowe’s Pay-N-Save (operating in the southwestern United States), at No. 45; Marc Glassman Inc., at No. 46; Alex Lee Inc. (family-owned and operates Lowes in the Southeast), at No.49; and Coborn’s (employee-owned), new this year to the ranking, at No. 50.