Food Emporium
Food Emporium logo from the 1990's
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| Industry | |
|---|---|
| Founded | New York, New York, United States (1919) |
| Founder | Louis Daitch |
| Headquarters | Staten Island, NY, United States |
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Number of locations
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7 |
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Area served
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New York |
| Parent | Key Food |
The Food Emporium is a chain of grocery stores in New York and New Jersey. The supermarket banner was created by Shopwell Inc., whose roots can be traced to Daitch Crystal Dairies (established 1919). Shopwell Inc. was acquired by The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) in 1986 and at the time, the company operated the upscale, gourmet banner stores in New York City, Westchester County, NY and Fairfield County, Connecticut. The Food Emporium grew throughout the 1990s, converting many of its New York-area A&P stores to The Food Emporium and expanding the chain to New Jersey. The 2000s brought new, stronger competition to the New York area and the chain shrank, receding mostly to Manhattan. At the time of A&P's liquidation in 2015, The Food Emporium had 11 stores. The banner was acquired from bankrupt A&P in late 2015 by Key Food Stores Co-op, Inc., which currently operates seven of The Food Emporium stores.
Food Emporium's history starts in 1919, when Louis Daitch founded Daitch Crystal Dairies, a public company trading on the . Over the years, he opened shops in the New York City area selling butter and eggs. Following World War II, Daitch Crystal Dairies enjoyed tremendous growth in the new supermarket format, emerging in the 1950s as a significant chain. In 1955, Daitch and its 34 stores (in New York City, Nassau and Suffolk counties, and in Connecticut, merged with Shopwell Foods' chain of 18 Westchester County supermarkets. Shopwell was founded by Sigmund Rosengarten, who entered the supermarket business as a butcher. The supermarket chain (known under variations of the Daitch and Shopwell names) underwent a period of significant expansion. Within a year, seven new stores were opened and nine more were added by acquiring the Diamond K chain.
Daitch's supermarket chain peaked in 1962 with 103 stores, but the company's growth was not focused. It attempted to launch a chain of convenience stores called Shop-Quik and in 1970 opened Shopwell Plaza in Westport, Connecticut, a shopping center that included Daitch's attempt at running a package (liquor) store. In 1973, Daitch changed its name to Shopwell Inc., now headed by Rosengarten's son Martin Rosengarten, who was aided by his sons, Jay and Glen. A year later, the company entered Vermont and Massachusetts; opening a combined seven stores. The venture did not work out, however, and in 1976 the company sold off these units, incurring an $800,000 loss.
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