brand spice tins . red owl was a grocery store chain in the united states headquartered in hopkins minnesota . founded in 1922 it was initially owned and operated by a private investment firm affiliated with general mills and purchased in 1968 by gamble skogmo . 1 contents 1 history 2 stores 3 in culture 4 masons red owl 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit red owl started as a coal company in the 1920s . 2 it opened its first store in rochester minnesota . 3 there were eventually stores throughout the upper midwest with one opening in bismarck north dakota in 1927 . 4 the chain briefly expanded into the chicago area starting in late 1959 but in 1963 sold its chicago area operations to national tea company . in 1980 gamble skogmo was acquired by wickes corporation which sold the chain to three executives of the chain in january 1986 . 5 at that time the company operated 441 stores in michigan wisconsin minnesota iowa and north and south dakota . in december 1988 the rights to the red owl name were obtained by grocery wholesaler supervalu inc. 6 along with its warehouse and distribution operations . 7 supervalu phased out the red owl name . stores edit masons red owl is located in green bay wisconsin . 6 brownlow s red owl is located in le roy minnesota . the store contains a red owl memorabilia collection that was utilized in the cohen brothers film a serious man 8 brownlow s red owl closed in 2010 or 2011 and is now a locally named small town grocery store . wagar s red owl is located in henderson minnesota red owl family center was a prototype opened in the early mid 1970s featuring a drugstore and variety section alongside the usual supermarket . 9 stewart mn had a red owl for over 60 years until the early 2000s . it was started in 1939 by william sunde as a red owl agency store and he ran it till his death in 1978 . larry roepke purchased the business in 1979 and ran it under the new name of larry s red owl until 2001 . the building is now being restored as a community center that will also honor its red owl history . 10 hal s red owl was located in wausau wi . it eventually dropped the red owl affiliation becoming simply hal s before closing altogether in 1996 . the building is now a family video store . hal s was one of two red owl stores in the wausau area as of the 1980s . in culture edit the title sequence of the mary tyler moore television show has the lead character in a red owl meat department . a red owl store shown to be in bloomington mn was featured in the 2009 coen brothers movie a serious man . masons red owl edit masons red owl type grocery convenience store industry retail grocery headquarters green bay wi key people mervin and jared mason products fresh and canned groceries produce bakery deli liquor number of employees 6 slogan where convenience is king website masonsredowl.com founded on february 1 1969 masons red owl was the first franchised red owl store in green bay wisconsin . three years later the owners mervin and jared mason purchased a second red owl franchise in de pere wisconsin . at that time masons red owl was incorporated from a partnership into the mej corporation . by 1985 however the green bay area witnessed the introduction of several other grocery stores including a cub foods and a copps food center . at this point the depere location was sold and efforts were refocused on the original franchise . in 1988 supervalu corporation purchased red owl s green bay warehouse making it the supplier for masons red owl . in 1989 the store expanded to include a full service deli department and remains in 2009 as one of the smallest full service grocery retailers . masons red owl faces competition in the green bay area from other grocers including woodman s wal mart aldi and festival foods . see also edit gamble skogmo general mills references edit restored red owl aims high supermarket news nov. 17 1986 http www.hopkinsmnhistoricalsociety.org wp content gallery red owl 20052137.jpg red owl s through history 1 red owl grocery store at bismarckpride.com executives buy red owl stores milwaukee sentinel jan 28 1986 a b red owl logo returns to leroy grocery laura gossman rochester post bulletin january 7 2009 super valu to buy portion of red owl stores inc . associated press . december 2 1988 . retrieved november 13 2014 . http www.brownlowsredowl.com https books.google.com books id z60gaqaamaaj & q % 22red owl family center % 22 & dq % 22red owl family center % 22 & hl en & sa x & ei 30ovu dklzks0agn3igycw & ved 0ceiq6aewbq http www.hutchinsonleader.com news general rebuilding the memories article 15a48e87 27a4 57fb 9fbe 0ba213a84fc4.html external links edit masons red owl website stewart mn red owl website v t e supermarket chains in the united states kroger baker s supermarkets city market dillons food stores food 4 less foods co. fred meyer fry s food & drug gerbes super markets harris teeter jay c king soopers kroger owen s pay less super markets qfc ralphs roundy s pick n save mariano s metro market copp s ruler foods scott s smith s albertsons acme markets albertsons amigos carrs haggen jewel osco lucky market street pavilions randalls safeway shaw s and star market super saver tom thumb united supermarkets vons supervalu county market cub farm fresh hornbacher s save a lot shop n save shoppers ahold delhaize food lion giant carlisle giant landover hannaford brothers company martin s food markets stop & shop southeastern grocers bi lo fresco y m s harveys supermarkets winn dixie wakefern pricerite shoprite the fresh grocer other national chains aldi iga lidl target walmart regional chains asian 99 ranch market great wall supermarket h mart hong kong supermarket island pacific supermarket marina food marukai corporation u.s.a. mitsuwa marketplace nijiya market seafood city shun fat supermarket uwajimaya hispanic bravo el ahorro supermarket fiesta foods fiesta mart la perla tapat a supermarkets m s club mi pueblo food center supermercados teloloapan vallarta supermarkets organic earth fare natural grocers trader joe s whole foods market wholesale bj s wholesale club costco sam s club conventional acme fresh market amigo andronico s balducci s bashas best yet market big y boyer s food markets inc. bristol farms brookshire brothers brookshire grocery company buehler food markets inc. c town supermarkets cash & carry central market d & w fresh market dave s markets dean & deluca demoulas market basket dierbergs markets dorothy lane market easy way store econofoods family fare fairway market fareway festival foods festival foods minnesota food giant food city foodarama foodland foodland hawaii foodtown pathmark gelson s gerland corporation giant eagle grand mart gristedes grocery outlet harmons harps food stores h e b heinen s fine foods highland park market homeland houchens hugo s hy vee ingles inserra supermarkets jerry s foods jungle jim s international market karns quality foods key food super fresh the food emporium king kullen kings super markets kuhn s quality foods lewis food town lion supermarket lowe s market lowes foods lund food holdings magruder s marc s market basket market of choice marsh supermarkets martin s super markets meijer met foods minyard food stores miracle mart mollie stone s markets morton williams new deal supermarket new seasons market niemann foods no frills supermarkets nugget markets pcc natural markets petrini s piggly wiggly piggly wiggly carolina co. pink dot price chopper price mart price chopper supermarkets publix pueblo raley s supermarkets red owl redner s markets remke markets rice epicurean markets ridley s family markets roche bros. rosauers supermarkets rouses russ s market save mart supermarkets saverite schnucks scolari s food and drug seafood city sedano s sellers bros. sendik s food market sentry foods seven mile market shop n save smart & final spartannash sprouts farmers market stanley stores star market stater bros. stew leonard s strack & van til straub s markets sullivan family of companies super dollar discount foods super one foods super saver foods b & r stores the fresh market times supermarkets tops friendly markets united grocery outlet urm stores valu king victory supermarkets village market food center weaver street market wegmans weis markets westborn market western beef winco foods woodman s markets yoke s fresh market zabar s zupan s markets defunct banners a mart a & p food basics pathmark waldbaum s abco foods alpha beta american stores appletree markets belle foods big bear stores big star markets bloom bottom dollar food bruno s buttrey food & drug byrd s carter s foods chatham clemens markets colonial stores dahl s foods daniel reeves stores david s supermarkets davis food city delchamps deskins dick s supermarket dominick s eagle food centers eberhard s eisner food stores farmer jack felpausch finast fisher foods food fair food world food a rama fresh & easy furr s genuardi s giant open air glen s markets grand union hamady brothers henry s farmers market hills supermarkets hinky dinky jitney jungle johnnie s foodmaster kessel food markets laneco marketside mars national supermarkets national tea omni superstore penn fruit penn traffic pick n pay supermarkets plus purity supreme quality markets qfi red food reid s schaffer stores company seaway food town seessel s simon david skaggs companies southern family markets sunflower farmers market sunflower market super duper sweetbay supermarket tidyman s twin valu ukrop s super markets warehouse economy outlet weingarten s wild oats markets xpect discounts list of supermarket chains in the united states retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title red owl retail chain & oldid 741055139 categories defunct companies based in minnesotafictional owlsdefunct companies based in wisconsinsupermarkets of the united states navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk 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