Four Square is a chain of supermarket

Supermarket

A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...

s in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. During the 1950s the Foodstuffs advertising department designed the famous "Mr 4 Square" who initially appeared only in newspaper advertising and posters, but was developed to become part of the Four Square identity, appearing in every Four Square store and eventually becoming a nationally recognised symbol in New Zealand, remaining famous to this day. The image is often closely associated with the art of New Zealand artist Dick Frizzell

Dick Frizzell

Dick Frizzell is a New Zealand artist based in Hawke's Bay.Frizzell's work is best described as expressionist pop in its appropriation of kitsch kiwiana icons and incorporation of them into his often cartoon-like paintings and lithographs. He does not stay within one particular style, and often...

, who has used the iconic character in many of his works. Some Four Square supermarket

Supermarket

A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...

s exist in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

History

The household name Four Square emerged in the 1920s out of the Foodstuffs

Foodstuffs

Foodstuffs is a group of three New Zealand grocery and liquor retailers' cooperatives based in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch which collectively control an estimated 57% of the New Zealand grocery market...

grocery buying co-operative. Foodstuffs’ founder, Mr J Heaton Barker, became concerned at the activities of the grocery chain stores of the day that were making life very difficult for independent grocers in Auckland. On 6 July 1922, Heaton Barker called together members of the Auckland Master Grocers Association to discuss plans for the formation of a co-operative buying group of independent grocers.

On 1 April 1925, this buying group registered a company, Foodstuffs Ltd (later Foodstuffs (Auckland) Ltd), the first of three regional co-operatives based in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, which now form the Foodstuffs group of co-operatives.
The name Four Square emerged when Mr Barker, while talking on the telephone to one of the buying group members on 4 July 1924, drew a square around the 4 of the date on his calendar. He immediately realised he had a suitable name for the buying group, stating that “they would stand ’Four Square’ to all the winds that blew”.

By the end of 1924 products were appearing under the Four Square name, and by 1929, discussions were underway on the use of a common branding on stores. Early versions of the Four Square sign were produced in the form of red and gold hand painted glass panels for display in members’ stores.

In February 1948, New Zealand’s first self-service grocery store was opened in Onehunga by Phil Barker (the son of the founder of the group) and Ray McGregor. This soon became the norm for grocery retailing.