Fry's Food and Drug
Encyclopedia
Fry's Food & Drug Stores, Inc., 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 that has a major presence in the state of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

. Fry's also operates under the banner of Fry's Marketplace, a chain of multi-department stores. Fry's is a division of The Kroger
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...

 Company.

Beginnings

Fry's was founded in 1954 by Donald Fry in California. With the help of his brother Charles, the store expanded into Arizona in 1960. Fry's was sold in 1972 and after a series of mergers and acquisitions in the 1970s and 1980s became part of Kroger.

Fred Meyer and Kroger

On October 19, 1998, 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...

, parent company of Smith's Food and Drug
Smith's Food and Drug
Smith's Food and Drug, commonly known as Smith's, is a chain of supermarkets in the Intermountain West and Southwest regions of the United States. Smith's operates 132 stores in Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. Smith's utilizes a combination food and drug center...

, announced a strategic merger with Kroger
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...

. On May 27, 1999, the Federal Trade Commission
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...

 (FTC) approved the merger of the two companies, named The Kroger Co.

Arizona and Texas were the only two of 31 states where there was overlap of stores and brands from the merger. The Kroger Co., choosing to operate with one brand in the market, rebranded most Arizona Smith's Food & Drug Centers to Fry's Food & Drug Stores, though Smith's Food and Drug Centers in Kingman
Kingman, Arizona
Kingman is located in a desert climate on the edge of the Mojave Desert, but its higher elevation and location between the Colorado Plateau and the Lower Colorado River Valley tempers summer high temperatures and contributes to winter cold and rare snowfall. Summer daytime highs reach above 90 °F ...

, Bullhead City
Bullhead City, Arizona
Bullhead City is a city located on the Colorado River in Mohave County, Arizona, USA, roughly south of Las Vegas, Nevada, and directly across the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada, whose casinos and ancillary services supply much of the employment for Bullhead City...

, and Lake Havasu City
Lake Havasu City, Arizona
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 41,938 people, 17,911 households, and 12,716 families residing in the city. The population density was 974.4 people per square mile . There were 23,018 housing units at an average density of 534.8 per square mile...

 did not change. Fry's Phoenix Distribution Center and offices were moved into the more modern Smith's Food and Drug Distribution Center and Offices in the Phoenix suburb of Tolleson
Tolleson, Arizona
Tolleson is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 6,812.-Geography:Tolleson is located at ....

.

Fry's Marketplace

Fry's Marketplace is a multi-department store that offers full-service grocery, pharmacy, Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. is an independent American ticket sales and distribution company based in West Hollywood, California, USA, with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010 it merged with Live Nation to become Live Nation Entertainment...

/Ticketron
Ticketron
Ticketron was a computerized event ticketing technology that was in operation from the 1960s until it was purchased by Ticketmaster in 1991.Ticketron was the name of a service created by Ticket Reservations Systems, Inc. The company changed its name to Ticketron in July, 1969...

, one-hour photo lab, and general merchandise including outdoor living products, electronics, home goods and toys. Ranging in size from 80,000-105,000 square feet, the Marketplace stores are smaller than the Fred Meyer stores. Fry's Marketplace was derived from the Fred Meyer concept but on a smaller scale and has since expanded to Kroger Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

 Division and the Smith's Food & Drug Centers Division in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

.

Fry's Marketplace started out as Smitty's, Arizona's first multi-department store. Smitty's was similar to a Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...

 Supercenter and even had a food court with four branded fast food choices (such as Taco Bell
Taco Bell
Taco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., which serves American-adapted Mexican food. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, other specialty items, and a variety of "Value Menu" items...

). In 1996, Smitty's merged with Smith's Food and Drug Centers of Salt Lake City. In 1997, After the Fred Meyer-Smith's merger, Fred Meyer updated and revitalized the Smitty's concept and in January 1999, all Smitty's stores were renamed Fred Meyer. During this time, management of the chain changed from Smith's Food and Drug to Fred Meyer. Construction also started on a full sized Fred Meyer store in Phoenix.

In June 2000, Kroger moved the management of Fred Meyer's Arizona stores to Fry's Food and Drug. The Fred Meyer stores were rebranded Fry's Marketplace. The Phoenix Fred Meyer store was completed but never opened and was later demolished as the store was too large for Fry's to use.

Fry's Signature

Fry's Signature is marketed as a high-end, neighborhood tailored grocery store. There is one location on 20427 North Hayden Road, Scottsdale, AZ. Another Fry's Signature store is located at 10450 N. 90th Street, Scottsdale, AZ

Fry's Mercado

Fry's Mercado is geared towards Arizona's Hispanic market. It is located at 43rd Avenue and McDowell. There is a check cashing store, an Aqua bar, a Cocina, a fuel station among other attractions at the location. Several other stores are subletted in the Fry's Mercado (like an electronics store, a women's clothing store, and a barber shop).

Fry's Electronics

Fry's Electronics was founded by the heirs of Charles Fry after Fry's Food & Drug Stores was sold. Although they have similar looking logos and a shared family heritage, there is no affiliation between Fry's Electronics and Fry's Food and Drug.
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