Stater Bros.

Stater Bros. Markets
Company typePrivate
IndustryGrocery Store
FoundedAugust 17, 1936; 88 years ago (1936-08-17)
Yucaipa, California, U.S.
FoundersCleo Stater
Leo Stater
Headquarters301 S. Tippecanoe Ave., San Bernardino, California, U.S.
Number of locations
171[1] stores throughout Southern California, primarily in the Inland Empire (San Bernardino and Riverside Counties)
Key people
Pete Van Helden (CEO)[1]
Greg McNiff (President)[1]
ProductsBakery, dairy, deli, floral, frozen foods, general grocery, liquor, meat, produce, seafood, snacks
RevenueUS$4.2 billion (2015)[2]
Number of employees
18,000[1]
ParentLa Cadena Investments
Websitestaterbros.com

Stater Bros. Markets is a privately held supermarket chain, based in San Bernardino, California, consisting of 171 stores located throughout Southern California. It was founded in Yucaipa, California, on August 17, 1936, by twin brothers Cleo and Leo Stater when they purchased the market owned by Cleo's boss, W. A. Davis, with a $600 down payment ($13,174 in 2023 dollars [3]).[4] Cleo recalled to the Inland Empire Business Press in 1998, that the owner of the market across the street from Davis' gave him the other $300 to make the full down payment. Stater Bros. went public in 1964; Cleo, Leo, and their brother Lavoy sold their interests to the now-defunct Long Beach–based Petrolane Gas Service in 1968.[5] The chain has been owned fully by Stater Bros. Holdings, a subsidiary of La Cadena Investments, owned by Stater's late chairman, president and CEO, Jack H. Brown, since 1986.[6][7]

In 1999, Stater bought 43 plus one future Albertsons and Lucky supermarkets during Albertsons' merger with American Stores. This acquisition expanded Stater into new areas, including the Antelope Valley and San Diego County.[8] It entered the Fortune 500 for the first time in 2006 at #493,[9] the first notable Inland Empire–based company to do so. In 2006, the headquarters began construction of a 2,000,000-square-foot (190,000 m2) facility at San Bernardino International Airport (formerly Norton Air Force Base) from its former location on the Colton–Grand Terrace border.[10] In 2018, Stater sold its SuperRX pharmacy division to CVS.[11]

  1. ^ a b c d "History of Stater Bros. Markets". 21 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Stater Bros". Forbes.
  3. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  4. ^ "Stater Bros. History". Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  5. ^ "Cleo Stater, 89; Began Supermarket Chain". Los Angeles Times, September 12, 2001; retrieved December 9, 2018.
  6. ^ "Stater Bros. Holdings" encyclopedia.com via International Directory of Company Histories 2006; retrieved December 9.2018
  7. ^ "Court Clears Way for Brown to Get Control of Stater". Los Angeles Times, June 14, 1986; retrieved December 9, 2018.
  8. ^ "Stater Bros. Holdings". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the Fiscal Year Ended September 28, 2003; retrieved December 9, 2018.
  9. ^ "Stater Bros. Holdings – Fortune 500". CNNMoney. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  10. ^ Hirsch, Jerry (5 September 2006). "Stater Bros. Grooms and Grows". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  11. ^ "Stater Bros. to Close Pharmacies, Transfer Assets and Services to CVS Pharmacy Locations". Victorville Daily Press. September 18, 2018; retrieved December 9, 2018