Riesbeck Revenue and Competitors

The organization presently known as Riesbeck Food Markets, Inc. began as a result of a family tragedy in the premature and unexpected death of Clement Riesbeck in 1921. His wife, Margaret Schumacher Riesbeck, survived him along with five children: Charles, Marguerite, Paul, Mary, and Bernard all born between 1910 and 1920. The family relocated from Martins Ferry, Ohio, to Woodsfield, Ohio, since the Woodsfield/Monroe County area was the home of the Schumacher side of the family. During 1926 and 1927, Woodsfield became the site of the first "corner grocery" store of the many to follow in future years. The family returned to Martins Ferry in 1928, after the oldest son, Charles graduated from Woodsfield High School. Charles and Marguerite began working nearly immediately. Charles enjoyed considerable advancement at A&P, which operated a number of grocery stores in the Ohio Valley area at that time. He may well have been the youngest A&P store manager ever at age 18; however, as he later explained, "somehow they thought I was 21," the minimum required age for managers. Paul also engaged in food industry employment with the Kroger Company. With Charles and Paul still actively employed, "Grandma" opened the first "Riesbeck's" on Zane Highway in Martins Ferry in 1932. Daughter Marguerite played the key role of "jack-of-all-trades," including occasional meat-cutter. In 1934, Charles left the A&P to fulfill a dream of owning his own store, also in Martins Ferry on Grant Avenue. A significant year for the Riesbeck family was 1936, as Grandma and her five children became incorporators, and Riesbeck Food Markets, Inc. was formally chartered as an Ohio corporation with six individuals as founding stockholders. A total of four grocery stores now showed on the balance sheet, including stores on Park Street and Catawba in Martins Ferry. During the 1940's, Riesbeck's opened several other neighborhood grocery stores. Near the turn of the decade, Riesbeck stores were positioned in the market areas of Yorkville, Steubenville, Dillonvale, Shadyside, Bellaire, and Mt. Pleasant, in addition to the original four stores in Martins Ferry. During this time, Grandma Riesbeck, her five children, and two son-in-laws were all actively employed in the corporation. The company's first entry into the "supermarket" age took place in 1958 with a 5,000 sq. ft. new store in Woodsfield. Responding to the changing patterns of consumers in the postwar era, the Riesbeck family recognized the changing times by placing emphasis on supermarket growth as opposed to further expansion in neighborhood grocery stores. The supermarket was not only a larger facility, but offered expanded product variety, extended store hours, and customer parking. Riesbeck's gradual transition from grocery stores to supermarkets brought about the eventual closing of the small neighborhood stores throughout the late 1960's and 1970's. By 1972, the corporation operated supermarkets in Woodsfield, Barnesville, and St. Clairsville, Ohio, with all the land and buildings owned by the company. Annual sales during this period were in the area of $6-$8 million. The company entered the Cambridge, Ohio, market area in 1982 with the acquisition of two supermarkets previously owned by Thorofare Corporation. Riesbeck's ventured in to West Virginia for the first time in 1985, with a new 30,000 sq. ft. supermarket in Wheeling, West Virginia. Along with the 30,000 sq. ft. store in Woodsfield, the Barnesville store of 26,000 sq. ft., the St. Clairsville store of 28,000 sq. ft., and the Cambridge stores of 16,000 and 18,000 sq. ft., annual sales for the calendar year 1988 were in excess of $52 million. During November of 1989, one of the Cambridge stores was replaced with a new 42,000 sq. ft. store in the former discount store building. This facility, with all of the traditional supermarket departments, as well as new ventures in pharmacy, floral, video, and expanded nonfood was considered the "flagship" of Riesbeck's concept of a complete shopping facility in the existing marketplace. The Deli Department began offering catering in 1991; it has been thriving with the help of a delivery van. The birth of Riesbeck's Mor For Less division marked 1992. The two locations chosen for high volume/low turn/low-price stores were Cambridge Southgate and the former Busack's store in Bellaire. Mor For Less features a limited assortment retail format which offers cost-conscious consumers an alternative to traditional supermarkets. When Riesbeck's decided to build a state-of-the-art 60,000 sq. ft. superstore in St. Clairsville, the new building anchored development of the city's west side. Opened in 1993, the St. Clairsville store includes a pharmacy, large floral department, and outdoor garden area, video rentals, a produce island for "convenience" prepackaged items, and a "power aisle" for special displays. Continued expansion and directional growth highlighted 1994 when Riesbeck's purchased the Zanesville, Ohio, Pick'n Save store. This 37,000 sq. ft. warehouse-type store extended the company's operating geography 25 miles westward. Also in 1994, renovation began on the original St. Clairsville store to convert it into new corporate offices. Corporate headquarters moved from its downtown Wheeling location to the new 19,000 sq. ft. office building in 1995. The Corporate Office has a modern Training Room that accommodates 150 people comfortably, and approximately 11,000 sq. ft. remain unused in the facility, allowing for future growth. In 1996, Riesbeck's officially leased the former Shadyside IGA building. The floor to ceiling renovation was competed for a December 1996 opening date. The store emphasizes "fresh" foods and offers an experimental format for Shadyside customers who haven't had a Riesbeck store in town since the early 1970's. This store is the company's first location to operate as a "Village Market." Riesbeck's returned to its roots with the opening of a Mor For Less in Woodsfield, Ohio, in July of 1998. This was the first expansion of the Mor For Less division since its birth in 1992. Shoppers in Woodsfield have the best of both shopping experiences with the traditional Riesbeck's as well as the limited assortment format of the Mor For Less. 1998 also brought changes to the Corporate Office as Riesbeck Food Markets, Inc. prepared for the year 2000. The corporate office upgraded its computer network and replaced its accounting system with a state-of-the-art software package. The increased speed of business necessitates that critical information be available to management on a daily basis. This upgrade assures that customers receive optimal customer service. The year 2000 brought many changes for Riesbeck's. Major renovations were begun on both the Elm Grove and Cambridge Riesbeck's location. The remodeling of the Elm Grove location was completed in January 2001. An additional 10,000 sq. ft. was added to the store allowing for a larger perishable area and totally redesigned font end. The Cambridge Riesbeck's also underwent a complete makeover including a building addition of 10,000 sq. ft. The remodeling, completed in September 2001, features a pharmacy drive-thru as well as expanded deli, produce, and bakery departments. On December 5, 2000, Riesbeck's announced the ground up construction of a new 53,000 sq. ft. store in South Zanesville. The store which operates under the Pick'n Save banner features a larger version of its sister store across town. The ribbon cutting was held on October 23, 2001. The addition of a Riesbeck's Pharmacy at the recently opened South Zanesville location ushered in 2003. The 750 sq. ft. pharmacy features a drive-thru which required structural changes tot he front exterior of the store. Riesbeck's has again ventured in West Virginia with the purchase of the former Foodland in Follansbee The store has undergone some minor changes to convert it to a Mor For Less format and a ribbon cutting was held on September 4, 2001. Sales and Marketing tailored the store to meet the unique needs of Follansbee and the surrounding area. In April 2004, renovation began on the former Big Bear facility in Wintersville, Ohio, which was converted into a Riesbeck's conventional supermarket. The new facility is 60,000+ sq. ft and includes full-service bakery, deli, and meat departments in addition to the traditional supermarket departments. An open house was held on June 22, 2004 followed by the Grand Opening on Wednesday, June 23, 2004. The growth in Wintersville continued with the opening of the fifth Riesbeck's Pharmacy on December 8, 2004. To provide better service to the community, the pharmacy presented monthly health fairs as well as traditional pharmacy offerings. In June 2005, the company ventured 25 miles northwest of Zanesville, Ohio into the rural community of Hanover, which is approximately 8 miles east of Newark, to open a small supermarket under the banner of Hanover Village Market. The 12,000 sq. ft. facility opened with minimal changes to the interior that involved thoroughly cleaning and sanitizing the store prior to re-stocking and re-opening the former Bob's IGA. To the delight of the 7,200 residents, who had been without a store since late 2004, the store had a soft-opening on June 22, 2005, with a ribbon cutting ceremony held on July 6, 2005. Hanover Village Market became the 14th location in the Riesbeck family of retail food stores. In June 2005, the company announced the ground-up construction of a new, 40,000 sq. ft. facility in Bridgeport, Ohio. The opportunity to enter this area was due to financial and natural tragedies resulting in the closing of both the local Big Bear and Giant Eagle stores. In June of 2006, the new store opened under the conventional Riesbeck's banner, to the delight of many area residents. Serving the Bridgeport and surrounding communities, this 15th addition to the Riesbeck family of stores offered full lines of fresh meat, deli, and produce items in addition to a drive-thru, full service pharmacy. With 15 stores and 6 pharmacies, Riesbeck Food Markets, Inc. has grown to employ over 1,200 employees serving customers of eight