Unified Western Grocers
Encyclopedia
Unified Grocers, originally Unified Western Grocers, is a retailer-owned wholesale grocery cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
that supplies independent 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 the Western United States
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
. It was formed in 1999 as the merger of United Grocers of Oregon (founded 1915) and Certified Grocers of California (founded 1922). In 2007 it acquired Associated Grocers
Associated Grocers
Associated Grocers was a retailers' cooperative that distributed full lines of groceries and general merchandise. Founded in 1934, it also provided retail services to independent groceries in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam...
of Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, and changed its name to Unified Grocers. The company has its headquarters in Commerce, California
Commerce, California
Commerce is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 12,823 at the 2010 census, up from 12,568 at the 2000 census. It is bordered by Vernon on the west, Los Angeles on the northwest, East Los Angeles on the north, Montebello on the east, Downey...
.
Unified Grocers is currently the largest retailer-owned wholesaler in the western United States. They serve more than 3,000 retail stores and recorded annual sales over $4 billion in 2009. There are over 500 current members and growing.