Jewel Tea
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1899 (Chicago, Illinois, U.S.) |
| Headquarters | Itasca, Illinois, U.S. |
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Number of locations
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185 |
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Key people
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Doug Cygan, President |
| Products | supermarkets/food-drug stores |
| Parent | Albertsons |
| Website | www |
Jewel-Osco is a supermarket chain headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. Jewel-Osco has 185 stores across northern, central, and western Illinois; eastern Iowa; and portions of northwest Indiana. Jewel-Osco and Jewel are currently wholly owned subsidiaries of Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons. The company original started as a door-to-door coffee delivery service before it expanded into delivering non-perishable groceries and later into grocery stores, and supermarkets. Prior to its 1984 acquisition by American Stores, Jewel evolved into a large multi-state holding company that operated several supermarket chains and other non-food retail chain stores located from coast to coast and had operated under several different brand names.
In 1899, Frank Vernon Skiff founded Jewel in Chicago, Illinois, as a door-to-door coffee delivery service. In 1902, Skiff partnered with his brother-in-law Frank P. Ross, renaming the venture the Jewel Tea Company. By 1903, they had six routes and then 12 routes in 1904 with expansion into Michigan City, Kankakee, and Kewanee. There were 850 routes by 1915.
During World War I, the company faced soaring costs for materials and production and, compounding this problem, the U.S. government commandeered a key Jewel production facility. As a result, by 1919 the company was experiencing severe financial setbacks. Within a few years, however, it returned to profitability through the leadership of new company officials, retired Commanders John M. Hancock and Maurice H. Karker, who had both gained extensive logistics experience as U.S. Navy supply officers during the war.
In 1929, the company built a new office, warehouse, and coffee roasting facility in suburban Barrington, Illinois, creating hundreds of local jobs despite the Great Depression. Area residents nicknamed the new five-story headquarters the "Gray Lady" due to its sophisticated art deco style. The Barrington location served as the headquarters and main warehouse facility for both the home delivery and food store divisions until the completion of the new warehouse and office complex at Melrose Park in 1953.
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Wikipedia