Western Supermarkets

Western Supermarkets is Birmingham's largest locally-owned grocery store chain. It was founded in 1948 by Inos Allen Heard and Stewart Yerton with the opening of a store in Five Points West. Currently, Western Supermarkets, Inc. operates stores under both the Western Supermarket and FoodSmart by Western brands. The corporate headquarters is located at 2614 19th Street South in Homewood.

History

In 1998, Western was the number three grocery chain in Birmingham.¹

In 2001, in an effort to compete against the many larger grocery chains, Western began tailoring each location to its area. This began with the renaming of the Festival Center location in Eastwood to FoodSmart by Western. The store's floral, seafood and deli departments were removed while a "Dollar Smart" section featuring items priced at $1 or less was added.² Other examples of this local tailoring are the Mountain Brook store's extensive wine shop and the Highland Avenue location's a large, "New York style" deli.³ Despite these adaptations, Publix surpassed Western as the number five grocery chain in Birmingham in 2003.⁴

2001 also saw the loss of Western's then most profitable store, in Bluff Park, after the landlord decided not to renew the store's lease. The location had been there since 1967.⁵

Locations

Current locations

• Western Supermarket
  • Gardendale (945 Main Street)
  • Highland Avenue (2230 Highland Avenue)
  • Mountain Brook (2717 Culver Road)
  • Rocky Ridge (3350 Morgan Drive, Vestavia Hills)
• FoodSmart by Western
  • Festival Center (7309 Crestwood Boulevard)
  • Pelham (3592 Highway 31 South)

Former locations

• Bluff Park (770 Shades Mountain Plaza, closed 2001)
• Cahaba Heights (3150 Green Valley Road, closed 2005)
• Center Point (1916 Center Point Parkway, closed 1980s)
• Five Points West
• Hoover (1887 Hoover Court, closed 2003)
• Trussville (5960 Chalkville Mountain Road, closed 2005)

External links

• Western Supermakets official website
• Western Supermarkets page at Birmingham Rewound

References

1. "At Age 50, Western Savors Role of Home-Owned Supermarket" (July 28, 1998). The Birmingham News.
2. Mahoney, Ryan (October 31, 2003). "Western Supermarkets carves niche market." [1] Birmingham Business Journal.
3. "About Western Supermarkets". [2] Accessed 11 Dec 2006.
4. Mahoney, Ryan (December 5, 2003). "Publix passes Western in local grocery wars." [3] Birmingham Business Journal.
5. "Neighborhood Loses Only Grocery" (July 13, 2001). The Birmingham News.