as nyse wmk industry retail grocery founded 1912 sunbury pennsylvania by harry and sigmund weis headquarters sunbury pennsylvania number of locations 182 key people jonathan weis chairman president and ceo website www.weismarkets.com weis markets inc. is a mid atlantic food retailer based in sunbury pennsylvania 1 it currently operates 171 stores in pennsylvania maryland new york new jersey and west virginia . contents 1 history 1.1 robert and jonathan weis 1.2 legal case 2 banners 3 competition 4 private brand labels 5 corporate officers 6 beer sales 7 references 8 external links history edit map of weis stores . weis markets was founded as weis pure foods in 1912 in sunbury pennsylvania by two brothers harry and sigmund weis . their store has been noted as revolutionary as it did not operate on credit sales were only for cash . at the time similar stores operated on credit allowing customers to build a tab that would be paid periodically . cash sales were a sign of a growing working class earning steady paychecks and they also helped lower prices by up to 25 % . the second weis store opened in 1915 in harrisburg pennsylvania . harrisburg would remain an important market for weis helping to anchor the central pennsylvania region that weis would dominate for decades . a weis supermarket in mifflintown pennsylvania . the weis brothers expanded their chain rapidly opening dozens of small in town grocery stores throughout central pennsylvania . their chain peaked at 115 stores in 15 central pennsylvania counties by 1933 . as the supermarket industry shifted to larger self service stores weis adapted the format of its stores . the company closed several corner grocery stores in harrisburg in 1938 replacing them with their first self service consolidated supermarket . over the next two decades the company continued with this strategy and it had consolidated all of its corner grocery stores into supermarkets with 35 stores by 1955 . in newspaper ads of the 1940s weis referred to its stores first as weis super markets 2 then weis self service markets 3 and finally weis markets . 4 in the 1950s and 1960s weis expanded its reach first to york and then lancaster by 1960 . weis expanded to maryland in july 1967 opening its first non pennsylvania store in hagerstown 5 followed by a store in frederick in august 6 its first store in the wilkes barre area opened in 1967 . 7 in november 1967 the company purchased the five store albany public markets chain based in albany new york in an all cash transaction . it operated albany public markets as a subsidiary keeping the company s management team intact . 8 weis closed its albany public markets chain in october 1986 leasing the nine stores to grand union . 9 weis also expanded to western pennsylvania opening stores as far west as altoona everett and philipsburg and expanded throughout northeastern pennsylvania . the company purchased two regional chains in the poconos and lehigh valley region mr. z s a 14 store chain of iga supermarkets in 1992 10 and king s a six store chain based in hamburg in 1994 . 11 12 mr. z s and king s were operated under separate banners for years before all stores were re branded as weis . weis s expansion into the baltimore maryland market was successful but its expansions into the washington d.c. market were less successful . weis opened stores in suburban washington d.c. and northern virginia before retreating from that market first closing most of its stores in montgomery county maryland and finally closing all stores in virginia . weis also expanded into northern new jersey beginning with a store opened in newton in 1992 . 13 a store that opened in flanders closed in 2002 two years after its opening . weis re entered the flanders market in 2014 in a former a & p store adjacent to the location of its first flanders store . 14 in 2009 weis expanded into the southern tier of new york with the acquisition of the 11 store giant markets chain . 15 weis closed one former giant market in binghamton in 2012 along with two others in 2014 . eight former giant markets continue to operate . 16 eastern expansion continued in 2012 as weis acquired three former genuardi s stores from safeway in the philadelphia suburbs of conshohocken doylestown and norristown on june 16 . a former superfresh store in towson maryland opened as a weis in 2012 . weis entered central new jersey with the purchase of a former pathmark store in hillsborough in august 2013 . in november 2013 weis opened its closest store to philadelphia after acquiring a former pathmark store in huntingdon valley pennsylvania . in may 2016 weis markets will take over 5 stores from mars in baltimore county maryland after that chain announced it was closing all its stores . 17 in july 2016 it was announced that weis markets entered into a purchase agreement with ahold and delhaize group for 38 food lion locations in delaware maryland and virginia as part of the divestiture of stores to gain clearance from the federal trade commission for the impending ahold delhaize merger . 18 robert and jonathan weis edit robert f. weis the son of founder harry weis joined the company in 1946 after serving in the u.s. army air force . early in his career he worked in various positions including operations distribution marketing procurement human resources real estate and store construction . ultimately weis would oversee the company s finances real estate and store construction while working with his cousin sigfried weis who became company president after the death of harry weis in 1962 . when sigfried weis retired in 1994 robert weis became company chairman a position he held until the spring of 2015 when he became chairman emeritus . weis s son jonathan who was ceo at the time succeeded him as chairman . robert weis died on october 19 2015 . legal case edit the weis supermarket located in park hills plaza along u.s. route 220 in altoona pennsylvania was the subject of a key 1960s united states supreme court case concerning the public forum doctrine . the court held that a union picket in the supermarket parcel pickup area and parking lot was permissible because the shopping center here is clearly the functional equivalent to the business district of a city . 19 at the time of the picketing the weis store was located in logan valley mall the park hills plaza was not built until the mid 1970s at which time weis move across u.s. route 220 to its current location . banners edit in addition to the weis markets banner the company once operated supermarkets under the king s and mr. z s banners . those two banners were centered primarily in the lehigh valley and the poconos respectively and were acquired in mid 1990s acquisitions . since their acquisitions these stores have been remodeled or replaced . in 2009 they were rebranded to the weis banner as was its cressler s store in shippensburg . in 2011 it converted its three scot s lo cost stores located in montoursville mill hall and coal township to the weis banner . weis operates some stores as save a lot under license from supervalu . at one time the company operated a few stores as big top market but as of 2006 no more stores exist under this banner . competition edit weis faces significant competition from various food retail formats including conventional retailers mass merchant retailers discount retailers drug stores convenience stores walmart and dollar stores . weis s chief competition comes in its traditional home base of central pennsylvania . giant carlisle a supermarket chain owned by ahold began aggressive expansion during the 1990s building large stores with expanded selections . giant has remained the market leader throughout central and northeastern pennsylvania . weis also faces tough competition in lancaster county pennsylvania from stauffer s of kissel hill . in maryland weis competes with walmart acme giant eagle food lion harris teeter safeway shoprite and giant landover . in new jersey weis s chief competition includes shoprite and stop & shop . in new york weis s competition includes price chopper and wegmans . in 2011 it sold or closed its remaining superpetz units a move that is expected to enhance the company s overall profitability . private brand labels edit weis markets sells a variety of house brands under the following private brand labels weis quality advertised as equivalent to national brands weis five star premium market street deli meat weis choice black angus meat valutime paws premium topcare full circle corporate officers edit jonathan weis chairman president and chief executive officer kurt schertle chief operating officer scott frost senior vice president chief financial officer and treasurer david gose senior vice president operations richard gunn senior vice president merchandising and marketing jim marcil senior vice president human resources harold graber senior vice president for real estate and development wayne bailey senior vice president supply chain and logistics kevin broe vice president center store sales and merchandising john grimes vice president meat deli and seafood brian holt vice president advertising and marketing r. gregory zeh jr. vice president chief information officer r. kevin small vice president construction and development joe kleman vice president distribution james daly regional vice president brent mertes regional vice president wendy oliver regional vice president jen rogers vice president and corporate controller rick seipp vice president pharmacy john neuberger vice president operational administration bob cline vice president talent development and associate relations beer sales edit weis markets is one of the supermarkets in pennsylvania able to sell beer in in store cafes at some of its locations . in pennsylvania grocery stores can not sell beer unless they operate a cafe . weis markets sells beer at 49 pennsylvania locations . in june pa governor tom wolf signed act 39 law permitting the sale of wine in licensed supermarket beer cafes . weis markets plans to sell wine in its beer cafes by thanksgiving 2016 . references edit contact us . archive weis markets . retrieved on august 26 2016 . 1000 south second street po box 471 sunbury pennsylvania 17801 advertisement harrisburg telegraph 6 march 1941 advertisement harrisburg telegraph 22 august 1946 advertisement the express lock haven pennsylvania 9 december 1949 weis markets sales earnings show increases the news frederick maryland 18 jul 1967 weis markets opens 2d store in maryland pottstown mercury 23 aug 1967 . to build market the news frederick maryland 24 oct 1967 weis buys n.y. chain the express lock haven pennsylvania 8 nov 1967 https news.google.com newspapers nid 1917 & dat 19861009 & id kawhaaaaibaj & sjid u3ifaaaaibaj & pg 4334 2448674 & hl en weis markets to buy iga stores standard speaker hazleton pennsylvania 28 november 1992 weis markets inc. to buy king s supermarkets gettysburg times 29 june 1994 http articles.mcall.com 1994 06 26 news 2970465 1 weis markets king s management chain weis markets to buy iga stores standard speaker hazleton pennsylvania 28 november 1992 http newjerseyhills.com mt olive chronicle news weis market work to begin in mount olive article 83a8b5ee 0437 11e3 bde1 001a4bcf887a.html http www.prnewswire.com news releases weis markets completes purchase of 11 giant markets in southern tier of new york 62016502.html g1ref http www.pressconnects.com article 20140521 news01 305210072 weis close two area stores mirabella lorraine may 26 2016 . mars super markets will close all stores july 31 . the baltimore sun . retrieved may 29 2016 . ahold and delhaize group reach agreements with buyers to divest 86 u.s. stores subject to ftc merger clearance . http newsroom.foodlion.com press release business brand delhaize group and ahold reach agreements buyers divest 86 us stores . external link in work help ; access date requires url help amalgamated food employees