Schnucks - Schnucks Pharmacy

Schnucks is a supermarket chain. Established in the St. Louis area, the company was started in 1939 with the opening of a 1,000-square-foot (93 m²) store in north St. Louis and now operates 97 stores in five states throughout the Midwest. Schnucks also ran stores under the Logli Supermarkets and Hilander Foods banners. Schnucks is one of the largest privately held supermarket chains in the United States.

History

Schnuck Markets, Inc. was founded in St. Louis in 1939. In 1946, its first large-scale retail store was opened, measuring 2,700 square feet (250 m²). By 1952, its first major store was opened in Brentwood, a St. Louis suburb. The Schnucks symbol, a soldier, was introduced in 1968 (during the Vietnam War). Schnucks continued to grow, acquiring stores in Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin. A previous merger in 1970 had seen Schnucks acquire the Bettendorf-Rapp chain of grocery storesâ€"temporarily forming the Schnucks-Bettendorf's chain (a joke was that an initially proposed name for the merged company was "Schnuckendorfs") until the latter half of the combined name was dropped a couple of years laterâ€"just as Bettendorf's had swallowed up the Rapp chain of stores to form Bettendorf-Rapp's in the 1960s. Schnucks underwent a major expansion in 1995 when it purchased from Loblaws the National Supermarkets chain, also based in S t. Louis.

Schnucks' growth in the St. Louis area was bolstered by the local abandonment of two major supermarket chains: A&P in the 1970s, and Kroger in 1986.

Expansion

In 2002, Schnucks agreed to buy 12 Seessel's stores in the Memphis, Tennessee area, from Albertsons, Inc. Schnucks operated these stores until September 2011. Kroger subsequently purchased these stores; eight are to reopen as Kroger, with the others closing altogether. Seven convenience stores operating under the Schnucks name also were sold, to be converted to the Kroger-owned brand Kwik Shop.

In 2008 Schnucks acquired grocery store Hart Food and Drug in O'Fallon, IL making it the fifth Schnucks in St. Clair County.

In August 2009, Schnucks opened a store in downtown St. Louis. This store, in the center of the downtown business district, is called "Culinaria â€" A Schnucks Market" and is being advertised as a "new urban prototype." The store includes 20,800-square-foot (1,930 m²) of shopping space, an additional 6,306-square-foot (585.8 m²) mezzanine with a wine department, tapas/wine bar, a full-service pharmacy, meat and seafood departments, florist, bakery, and a Kaldi's Coffee bar. The placement of the store reflects the downtown area's urban renewal of the 21st century, including loft-style condominiums and apartments. (See Washington Avenue Loft District, St. Louis and Downtown St. Louis.)

In September 2011, Schnucks purchased seven former Hilander stores in the Rockford, Illinois area from The Kroger Co. In May 2014, Schnucks closed three of the seven former Hilander stores. One property was sold, and the other two are vacant and for sale. Due to the highly competitive market, Schnucks had a non-compete clause which meant that a grocery store could not move into these vacant locations, but the city has since passed an ordinance to block such restrictions.

System compromise

Beginning in December 2012, Schnucks experienced a system compromise. During a four-month period, up to 2.4 million credit/debit cards were put at risk. Many people had to cancel credit and debit cards. As of March 2013, Schnucks reported that the system compromise had been resolved.

Leadership

The company is family owned, with the fourth generation now working for the company.

In 2007, Schnucks decided to better compete with Walmart, beginning a campaign called "Recipe for Success". Schnucks also began a program where it lowered prices on 10,000 items to be more competitive with Walmart. Schnucks leadership led the plan, which included making their employees knowledgeable on the food they sold.

Pharmacy

The first Schnucks Pharmacy was opened in March 1970. As of 2012, there are 95 in-store pharmacies across Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa. The quality of the healthcare provided by Schnucks Pharmacy was recognized when it was named "Pharmacy Chain of the Year 2008" by Drug Topics Newsmagazine. Schnucks offers over 50 generic prescriptions that can be filled for $4 for a 30-day supply, or $10 for a 90-day supply. The pharmacy also fills prescriptions for seven different generic antibiotics for free, with up to a 21-day supply. Recently, Schnucks Pharmacy launched a program offering certain prenatal vitamins at no cost for a month's supply. In addition to low-cost prescriptions, Schnucks Pharmacy also offers a crutch loan program where customers can pick up a pair of crutches for a small deposit that is refunded when they are returned.

Charitable contributions

Schnucks has supported charitable causes, including the United Way, The Salvation Army Tree of Lights, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, St. Louis Variety - The Children's Charity, and Operation Food Search.