citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . april 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message food 4 less type subsidiary industry retail founded 1977 headquarters compton california products bakery dairy deli frozen foods general grocery meat produce seafood snacks liquor bulk foods parent kroger website food4less.com foodsco.net myfood4less.com food 4 less grocery store in los angeles california food 4 less is a national warehouse store grocery chain currently owned by kroger . 1 it is a no frills grocery store where the customers bag their own groceries at the checkout . kroger operates food 4 less stores in california illinois indiana and ohio . in markets that kroger does not have the rights to the food 4 less name it operates as foods co. there are other stores scattered throughout the united states with the food 4 less name part of franchise agreements with various wholesalers including unified western grocers and associated wholesale grocers midwest . these stores have particular penetration in central and northern california . the food 4 less name was previously used by fleming companies inc. but as fleming exited various regions and ultimately collapsed the rights to the name went to wholesalers who picked up some of fleming s former customers . contents 1 falley s 2 nugget 3 fleming 4 paq inc. 5 gongco foods 6 references 7 external links falley s edit the food 4 less name and logo was originally conceived in the 1930s by lou falley who developed a chain of stores both in the food 4 less name with the warehouse no frills format and the falley s name . the falley s stores were full service supermarkets while the food 4 less stores were warehouse stores where labor costs were cut by having the groceries stocked to the shelves in the original cases rather than stacking individual items . these stores were located throughout eastern kansas and parts of northwestern missouri . over the years the number of falley s store diminished and were replaced with food 4 less stores . falley s also franchised food 4 less in states where it did not operate . ron burkle s yucaipa companies acquired falley s in 1987 . 2 in a period of consolidation for the grocery industry food 4 less merged into ralphs ; fred meyer acquired ralphs in 1997 and was acquired by kroger a year later . in 2015 food 4 less exited the las vegas market and nevada entirely . six of the stores were converted to sister store smith s a prominent grocery chain owned by kroger in the las vegas area . the remaining food 4 less stores were simply shut down . 3 in 1998 fred meyer sold falley s and the midwest food 4 less stores to associated wholesale grocers of kansas city . 4 the warehouse type stores were slowly phased out in favor of full service food 4 less stores with a new logo and format . in january 2006 the awg owned falley s and food 4 less stores located in kansas were combined with sister company homeland stores based in edmond oklahoma . the company changed the names of the food 4 less stores which it can t use beyond kansas and missouri to awg brands such as price chopper . nugget edit the company uses the foods co name in northern california where kroger is bound by an agreement between falley s and grocer nugget markets inc. . one food 4 less store in northern california is managed and operated by nugget . kroger does not have any administrative control over the single nugget food 4 less store . nugget s food 4 less is limited by its agreement with fleming in its ability to advertise in circulars . kroger s food 4 less circulars will feature individual products on sale whereas nugget s food 4 less circulars only promote sales events and customer testimony . ad prices from the kroger food 4 less chain are not honored . the nugget food 4 less store also features a different selection of products than the kroger food 4 less stores due to nugget s pooling of resources from its upscale nugget market stores . marketing and administration of the nugget food 4 less store is handled through the nugget market corporate office in woodland california and any requests for other food 4 less stores will be deferred to the kroger corporate office in cincinnati ohio . it is unclear whether nugget markets and kroger will continue the fleming relationship when the franchise agreement expires . nugget operated a total of three stores in northern california ; in cameron park vallejo and woodland . in 2014 the food 4 less in cameron park was converted into fork lift a new store concept by nugget . 5 the food 4 less in vallejo was shuttered on may 15 2016 leaving the woodland location as nugget s sole remaining food 4 less store . 6 fleming edit fleming was another franchisee of the food 4 less name . in early 2003 fleming filed for bankruptcy causing the company to place all fleming owned food 4 less stores up for bids to other national grocers . three stores in utah were purchased by albertsons who retained two stores . the two stores kept the food 4 less name until january 2005 when the names changed to the albertsons owned super saver name . another store in pinole california became a foodmaxx a price impact store owned by save mart supermarkets . in oregon only one former fleming store remained in salem which was part of the mega foods local chain of four stores . the remaining store was converted into mega foods . an independently run former fleming store in portland was closed in january 2013 . paq inc. edit paq inc. the parent company of hawaii based times supermarkets is also another franchisee of the food 4 less name with stores in northern california . the franchisee operates food 4 less stores in atascadero ceres lodi los banos manteca paso robles salinas san luis obispo and stockton . kroger also does not have any administrative control over the paq inc. food 4 less stores . the franchisee also operates rancho san miguel market a supermarket specializing in mexican groceries . gongco foods edit gongco foods operates seven franchised food 4 less stores in central california . 7 they are also not affiliated with kroger . references edit the kroger company . kroger.com . accessed may 2011 . building an empire supermarket news food 4 less pulling out of the las vegas market . vegas inc. 30 october 2014 . retrieved 9 may 2015 . fred meyer adding 98 stores in series of deals the new york times nugget market introduces fork lift store concept in cameron park . sacramento business journal . 4 december 2014 . retrieved 19 july 2016 . raskin zrihen by rachel . business vallejo s food 4 less closing . times herald vallejo ca 11 may 2016 news 1 . newsbank . web . 13 may 2016 . about food 4 less central valley external links edit official website kroger official website nugget woodland california official website paq inc. northern california official website gongco foods central california profile at hoovers.com food 4 less application v t e kroger grocery baker s supermarkets city market dillons food 4 less foods co. fred meyer fry s food and drug gerbes super markets harris teeter jayc food stores king soopers owen s market pay less super markets qfc ralphs roundy s pick n save mariano s copps metro market ruler foods scott s food & pharmacy smith s food and drug convenience kwik shop loaf n jug quik stop smith s express tom thumb turkey hill jewelry fred meyer jewelers littman jewelers services i wireless people michael j. cullen jacob e. davis david dillon bernard kroger fred g. meyer 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