Bruno's Supermarkets
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| Industry | Retail grocer |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1932 |
| Defunct | 2012 |
| Headquarters | Birmingham, Alabama |
| Products | Dairy, deli, frozen foods, grocery, meat, produce, snacks, health and beauty |
| Parent | Belle Foods |
| Website | brunos.com |
Bruno's Supermarkets, LLC was an American chain of grocery stores with its headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama.
It founded in 1932 by Joe Bruno in Birmingham. During the company's pinnacle, it operated over 300 stores under the names Bruno’s, Food World, Foodmax, Food Fair, Fresh Value, Vincent's Markets, Piggly Wiggly, Consumer Foods, and American Fare in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and South Carolina. The chain was acquired by Birmingham-based Belle Foods which discontinued the brand in 2012.
The company began as a market opened by Joseph Bruno in Birmingham, Alabama during the Great Depression. According to the 1983 book Joe: The Fiftieth Anniversary of Bruno’s Food Stores by Pat Dunbar, “the store would have fit into a modern day meat cooler.” The company grew steadily, with ten stores in place during the 1950s, and 29 stores open under the Bruno's name when it became a publicly traded company in 1971. In 1972, Bruno’s opened its discount grocery chain, Food World, which was followed by warehouse-oriented Consumer Foods. As Food World and Consumer Foods became more profitable, the old Bruno’s stores began to be phased out. Consumer Foods was replaced by Food Fair in 1983, and in 1984 Bruno's opened its first Foodmax stores.
On December 11 of 1991, the nearly $3 billion company suffered a catastrophic blow when one of its two corporate jets crashed into Lavender Mountain in Rome, Georgia killing all 9 passengers. The Chairman along with a founder of the company, and several executive officers were aboard at the time of the crash. The crash caused a large outpouring of grief among the Birmingham metropolitan community due to the family and the company's well-known philanthropic contributions. The Bruno's Classic, a PGA Seniors Tour tournament which was announced just prior to the crash, was renamed the Bruno's Memorial Classic.
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