Stanley Stores
Encyclopedia
Stanley Stores Inc. was a family-owned regional grocery store chain in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, with its headquarters in Bay City
Bay City, Texas
Bay City is a city in Matagorda County, Texas, United States. The population was 18,667 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Matagorda County. The current mayor is Mark Bricker.-Geography:Bay City is located at...

, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. The chain operated three brands. Stanley Stores was the conventional grocery store brand. The Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...

said that the brands Price Lo Supermarkets and Foods "4" Less were "modern, warehouse-type food stores with large sales and cut-rate prices."

History

O. B. Stanley established the chain in 1945. The first location, a drive-in grocery in Bay City, Texas
Bay City, Texas
Bay City is a city in Matagorda County, Texas, United States. The population was 18,667 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Matagorda County. The current mayor is Mark Bricker.-Geography:Bay City is located at...

, was the 880 square foot Stanley's Superette.Originally O. B. Stanley served as the president of Stanley Stores. Fred C. Stanley became the president of Stanley Stores in 1962. At its peak the chain operated 33 stores.

In 1988 Stanley Stores had 30 locations in Texas and Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. At that period the stores ranged in size between 20000 square foot and 46000 square foot. During that year, it opened two new stores in Houston, including one 30655 square foot location and one 29730 square foot location. O. B. Stanley, in regards to the changes in size, said "We've gotten a little bigger since then. Our operations have changed with the times."

In 1994 Stanley Stores filed to Chapter 11 reorganization in a federal bankruptcy court in Houston. It owed Grocers Supply Inc. $14 million. At the time it had 29 stores in Texas and Louisiana and 1,400 employees. By February 1995 seven stores had closed. In November 1995 Stanley Stores reached an agreement to get out of bankruptcy protection. At that time it had 15 stores and 750 employees. In Fred Stanley, then still serving as president of the chain, died on Monday, July 12, 1999 from cancer.

The chain made several donations to the Bay City Museum.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK