Dillons is a grocery 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...

 chain based in Hutchinson, Kansas

Hutchinson, Kansas

Hutchinson is the largest city in and the county seat of Reno County, Kansas, United States, northwest of Wichita, on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887, thus its nickname of "Salt City", but locals call it "Hutch"...

, and is a division of The Kroger Company

Kroger

The Kroger Co. is an American supermarket chain founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It reported US$ 76.7 billion in sales during fiscal year 2009. It is the country's largest grocery store chain and its second-largest grocery retailer by volume and second-place general retailer...

. Other banners under Dillon Stores Division include Gerbes in Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, Baker's in Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

 and a Food 4 Less

Food 4 Less

Food 4 Less is a national price-impact warehouse grocery chain, currently owned by Kroger. It is a no-frills grocery store where the customers bag their own groceries at the checkout...

 store in Fremont, Nebraska

Fremont, Nebraska

Fremont is a city in and the county seat of Dodge County, Nebraska, United States, near Omaha in the eastern part of the state. The population was 26,397 at the 2010 census....

. Dillon's operates grocery stores throughout Kansas with major influences in Wichita

Wichita, Kansas

Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...

 metropolitan area and Topeka, Kansas

Topeka, Kansas

Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...

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Dillon's operates a dry grocery warehouse in Goddard, Kansas

Goddard, Kansas

Goddard is a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States. Part of the Wichita metropolitan area, it is a suburb of Wichita, Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,344.-History:...

, in addition to frozen foods and perishable warehouses in Hutchinson. A bakery manufacturing plant and dairy are also in Hutchinson. The dairy produces cultured dairy products and private-label milk for all Dillon's stores. Dillon's previously operated (until the late 1990s) dry grocery warehouses in Hutchinson and Lenexa, Kansas

Lenexa, Kansas

Lenexa is a city in the central part of Johnson County, located in northeast Kansas, in the central United States of America. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 48,190. As a satellite city of Kansas City, Kansas, Lenexa is included in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...

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History

After his initial venture in selling groceries at his general store in Sterling, Kansas in the 1890’s, Jonathan S. Dillon opened his first J.S. Dillon Cash Food Market in Hutchinson, Kansas, in 1913.

After several decades of steadily building the chain, a burst of growth began in 1957, when John's son, Raymond, expanded with additional stores in the Wichita market. By 1968, J S. Dillon and Sons had grown into Dillon Companies, Inc., and began acquiring regional banners, such as City Market, Fry’s, Gerbes, and King Soopers, over 300 convenience stores in 5 states, and Jackson’s Ice Cream dairy. Dillon Companies Inc. joined the Kroger family in 1983 and brought with it two future CEOs: Joe Pichler, who served as CEO of Kroger from 1990 to 2003, and Kroger’s current CEO, Dave Dillon. Dave is the great grandson of J. S. Dillon.

Today, more than 12,000 associates work at 93 stores in the Dillon Stores Division, which includes 26 stores in Wichita, Kansas area, 13 stores in the Omaha, Nebraska area, 9 stores in Topeka, Kansas, and 24 fuel centers. The format for most locations is the traditional combination of food, general merchandise, and pharmacy, with an average of 49,000 square feet per store. The division offers Dillons Marketplace stores in Kansas, located in Wichita, Andover, and Derby.

In 1983, Dillon Companies Inc. was acquired by The Kroger Company of Cincinnati, OH, creating a nationwide grocery chain. Several years later, Dave Dillon was named Kroger's President and COO and became CEO in 2003, and still serves in that position today.

In 2006, Kroger opened the first Dillons Marketplace in Wichita, Kansas

Wichita, Kansas

Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...

. The concept, similar to Kroger's Fred Meyer

Fred Meyer

Fred Meyer, Inc., is a chain of hypermarkets founded in 1922 in Portland, Oregon, by Fred G. Meyer. The company was one of the pioneers of one-stop shopping, eventually combining a complete grocery supermarket with a drugstore, clothing store, shoe store, fine jewelers, home decor store, home...

chain, is 110000 square feet (10,219.3 m²) of grocery and general merchandise.