page_title: Lucky Stores
section_title: Beginning
hierarchical_section_title: Lucky Stores / History / Beginning
caption_attribution_description: English: A Lucky refrigerator magnet dated circa 1990s.This photograph was taken with a Samsung Reclaim SPH-m560 mobile phone camera and edited (color balance, sharpness) using ArcSoft PhotoStudio 5.5
context_page_description: Lucky Stores is an American supermarket chain founded in San Leandro, California, in 1935. Lucky is currently operated by Save Mart Supermarkets in Northern California.
  In 1998, Lucky's parent company, American Stores, was taken over by Albertsons, and by 1999 the Lucky brand had disappeared. On January 23, 2006, SuperValu, CVS Pharmacy and an investment group led by Cerberus Capital Management announced they had agreed to acquire Albertsons for $17.4 billion. Existing Albertsons stores were divided between Supervalu and the Cerberus-led group; the Cerberus-acquired stores became Albertsons, which then sold its Northern California and Northern Nevada stores to Save Mart Supermarkets.
  In 2006, both SuperValu and Save Mart began re-branding some Albertsons locations as Lucky stores, using the old logo. However, the same year, Grocery Outlet, an unrelated Northern California retailer, also began branding some of its stores as Lucky, claiming that Albertsons had given up rights to the Lucky trademark when it retired the brand in 1999.
context_section_description: Lucky Stores was founded by Charles Crouch as Peninsula Stores Limited in 1931 with the acquisition of Piggly Wiggly stores in Burlingame, San Mateo, Redwood City, Palo Alto and San Jose. By 1935, seven more stores had been added, including the company's first stores in the East Bay, in Berkeley and Oakland.
  Lucky had a big influence in transitioning from small store to supermarket.
  Its first flagship store opened in 1947 in San Leandro, California. It featured a coffee shop and other conveniences. Also known as "Lucky #50", this store was managed for years by San Leandro native Anthony (Tony) Minniti. Mr. Minniti was known for his old-fashioned approach that emphasized customer service. Tony enjoyed having a personal rapport with many customers over the years, and maintained a highly profitable store during his tenure. After his retirement, the store's customer base (and profitability) declined over time. It was the last Lucky Store to be re-branded after the takeover by Albertsons. Due to dwindling profits, it later closed in 2005.
  Lucky grew by acquisition in many markets including Big Bear Stores and Mayfair (Seattle), Jim Dandy and Food Basket (Southern California), Kash n' Karry (Florida), and Eagle Food Centers (Illinois). Many chains were operated under their old names for several years after their takeovers.
  Lucky stores in the Seattle market were sold to Associated Grocers in 1985. Lucky lacked a distribution center in Washington State and felt that it was impractical to continue to serve the market from Californian distribution and manufacturing facilities.  Associated Grocers would rename the stores from their co-op owned stores and other independent markets.
caption: An original Lucky refrigerator magnet bearing its trademark "Lucky means low prices" slogan
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