Jr. Food Stores is a chain of convenience stores operating in south central Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 and northern Middle Tennessee

Middle Tennessee

Middle Tennessee is a distinct portion of the state of Tennessee, delineated according to state law as the 41 counties in the Middle Grand Division of Tennessee....

, with approximately 41 retail locations. It is owned by Houchens Industries

Houchens Industries

Houchens Industries, is an American employee-owned company, in business since 1918 when it began as a small grocery operated by founder Ervin Houchens in rural Barren County, Kentucky. The company is headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The company runs about 425 grocery and convenience stores...

.

The chain is not related to Jr. Food Mart

Jr. Food Mart

-History:In the 1960s, Jr. Food Mart was chartered as a subsidiary to the supermarket chain Jitney Jungle.Today, the company is an independent company with many leased locations.They operate convenience stores throughout Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana...

, which is an outgrowth of the now-defunct Jitney Jungle

Jitney Jungle

Jitney Jungle was a chain of supermarkets that began in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1919.-Origins:Originally, brothers Judson McCarty Holman and William Henry Holman and their cousin William Bonner McCarty founded a charge-and-carry grocery store in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1912...

 supermarket chain, and which continues to operate convenience stores in the Gulf Coast states.

History

Jr. Food Stores was founded in 1968 by the Reeves family of Bowling Green, Kentucky

Bowling Green, Kentucky

Bowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...

, which operated a handful of larger supermarkets in their hometown. The supermarkets later closed, and in May 1998 the Reeves family sold the convenience stores to their former cross-town competitor Houchens Industries

Houchens Industries

Houchens Industries, is an American employee-owned company, in business since 1918 when it began as a small grocery operated by founder Ervin Houchens in rural Barren County, Kentucky. The company is headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The company runs about 425 grocery and convenience stores...

, who operate smaller supermarkets in towns and cities surrounding Bowling Green.