Spartan chains in Michigan (Glen's, D&W, Family Fare, etc.)

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Moderator: Groceteria

Post Reply
TenPoundHammer
Veteran
Posts: 225
Joined: 17 Jan 2007 21:05

Spartan chains in Michigan (Glen's, D&W, Family Fare, etc.)

Post by TenPoundHammer »

Okay, so here's my attempt to untangle the mess that is the Spartan

D&W
The first D&W was a former IGA in Grandville, and is now the site of a bar. D&W seems to be SpartanNash's "upscale" brand, but it's slowly being whittled away.

One of the remaining D&Ws is a mall anchor at Breton Village in Grand Rapids, formerly Kroger/Hamady.

D&W converted a very early Farmer Jack on Leonard St., which is now a Save-a-Lot. They also took a Kroger on Whitehall Road in Muskegon (now Plumb's; the other Plumb's on Apple Ave. is also obviously a former Kroger, but I don't know if it was D&W in between). One of the two was also Duthler's Family Foods at one point. Duthler's also had a store at East Town Mall in Kalamazoo, and one on 4 Mile in Grand Rapids that was later D&W and then Family Fare and Plumb's before reverting to Duthler's for less than a year. The southernmost Duthler's was Benton Harbor, which was paired with a Belscot discount store, and was later a Big Lots.

Duthler's also operated out of a former Meijer supermarket in downtown GR. It was supposed to become D&W, but was torn down instead.

In 1999, they did something weird when they took over Village Foods in St. Joseph. After only two years, half of the store was taken over by a Save-a-Lot. Both stores closed in 2003.

South Haven became Village Market, not related to the Village Market that Felpausch bought out.

They also left Three Rivers, Fremont, Walker, Wyoming, and Zeeland entirely. A few D&Ws flipped to Family Fare.

Family Fare
Family Fare began in Hudsonville, Michigan. I don't know if the current FF in Hudsonville is the original store, or if it moved at some point. I also found 1960s newspaper ads for a "Family Fare" on Lincoln Avenue in Holland, but I'm not sure if it was actually part of the chain.

By the 80s, they'd expanded in Grand Rapids, and had gotten as far as Lowell. I also found a listing for a store in Portland, but it may be a typo, since the address was various independent Spartan stores over the years. FF was also in Indiana for a short time. I've confirmed they were in Goshen and Nappanee. The Nappanee store still has a "Family Fare Drive" leading up to where it used to be, but I don't know where the Goshen one was.

Most of the Family Fare closures I've found have been relocations (Allendale, Battle Creek, two in Byron Center, Holland), but a few GR-area stores have closed due to competition, along with Alma, Grand Ledge, Sault Ste. Marie, and Chicago Dr. in Holland.

Spartan also operated the following nameplates:

Great Day
Had only three stores: Cedar Springs, Sparta, and Standale (former Kroger/Hamady). All three became Family Fare in 2004, although Cedar Springs has since closed. Interestingly, Standale has both Starbucks and Subway in it.

Ashcraft's
A small chain of seven stores: Alma, Clare, Gladwin, Harrison, Marion, Midland, and Standish. The original store in Harrison was combined with a Ben Franklin. It relocated in the 90s to a larger store. Alma was a former Kroger/Hamady, and Midland was originally Giantway.

All seven became Glen's in 2004. Clare and Marion were converted to Valu Land soon afterward. Midland was the first store in northern Michigan to flip to Family Fare, doing so in 2010. All the rest followed suit, although Alma has since closed.

Daane's
All stores were in Grand Rapids, except for 30th Ave. which was in Grandville:

* 1225 Leonard St. NE - opened 1971 in a former A&P; later Sy's, now Family Fare
* 6127 Kalamazoo Ave. SE - opened 1991, now Family Fare
* 5241 Northland Dr. NE - opened 1985, later Prevo's, now Family Fare
* 4455 Breton Rd. SE - opened 1978, later Sy's, now Horrock's
* 6797 Cascade Rd. SE - opened 1991, later Prevo's, then Family Fare; closed due to D&W having a store nearby, now vacant
* 3075 30th Ave. SW - opened 1982, later Family Fare, now Bethel Abundant Life

Sy's was a small chain started by one of the founder's brothers as a rivalry. There was another Sy's in a former Kroger/Hamady on Clyde Park in Wyoming. That store also became a Family Fare, but has since been torn down.

Prevo's
Bellaire (formerly Dingman's), Cadillac (formerly Oleson's), Coopersville, Frankfort, Ludington (former Eberhard's), Manistee (former Kroger/Hamady), Traverse City (one on 8th St., one on US-31).

Plus the two former Daane's stores mentioned above. Both of the G.R. stores plus Coopersville became Family Fare, while the rest except for Ludington became Glen's in 2004. Ludington instead became Shop & Save (an independent store, not part of the chain). Both Manistee and Cadillac (elaborated on below) have since relocated.

Felpausch
Started in Hastings. I found a 1960s news article saying that Mason was the fifth in the chain.

In the early 1980s, Felpausch took two former Krogers in Battle Creek: one on 20th and one on Goodale. These were later consolidated into a former Jewel on Columbia Avenue, which was turned into a combination Family Fare/Ace Hardware before moving in 2010. They also took former Jewel stores in Benton Harbor (closed after about a year) and Jackson (also had an Ace Hardware added to it, closed 2008).

Felpausch also had a prototype store across from Lakeview Square in Battle Creek, which was later "Zucca's by Felpausch" before closing in 2004.

I found a news article saying that Felpausch had acquired the former Carter's Foods in Kimball (which is way over on the east side of the state near Port Huron, very far away from their core). However, it looks like that store never actually opened, and it is now independent.

Bellevue had a small store downtown which is now called Town & Country. Town & Country also operates out of a former Harding's on Portage St. in Kalamazoo, and the former Pinny Foods IGA in Pinconning.

Other stores that didn't convert to Family Fare include Charlotte (now a health office), Leslie (became the aformentioned Valu Land), the original store in Hastings (now an ACE Hardware; presumably closed due to Family Fare taking the larger Plumb's store west of town instead), Kalamazoo (Park St., now an independent market), and Mason (later a Save-a-Lot, now vacant). Marshall was also relocated at some point in the 90s to a former short-lived Carter's Foods, and the original store is now a Save-a-Lot.

Grand Ledge converted to Family Fare, but closed in 2013.

Also of note is that both Dowagiac and Paw Paw were previously Village Market, but were originally built as Fisher's Big Wheel.

Glen's

Glen's started in Gaylord in the 1950s and had stores mostly along the I-75 corridor of northern Michigan by the 80s.

By some point in the late 80s, Glen's had acquired three Red Owl stores in the UP: Escanaba, Iron Mountain, and Munising. The former two were quickly sold to Super One Foods, but Munising held on.

They also opened in East Tawas and two stores in Alpena in the early 1990s. Both East Tawas and Alpena-South were originally Giantway, while Alpena-North was a 1950s Kroger that later operated as "Midway Market" after Kroger moved out. All three of these stores only lasted about five years. Alpena-North is now Save-a-Lot; Alpena-South is now Big Lots; and East Tawas is now Save-a-Lot and Tractor Supply Company.

The original stores in Gaylord, Grayling, and Kalkaska all moved at some point, although I'm not sure where the originals of the latter two were. The flagship store in Gaylord has both Starbucks and a drive-thru Dairy Queen (!) in it.

Both Munising and West Branch relocated out of their original buildings in the mid 90s. In both cases, the old store is now a Family Dollar.

Cadillac is the real head scratcher, since it moved three times in about 15 years. The first store was built around 1990, using a prototype that I've otherwise seen only in Oscoda. The store had a glass atrium along the front, and all of the aisles were laid out at 45 degree angles. (This was later changed at the Oscoda store, which largely converted to regular aisles, but still had some vestiges of the old angles until Family Fare redid it.) After only a couple years, the Cadillac store moved across the street to a former Pick & Save, which I believe was built for A&P but never tenanted by them. In 2002, they moved to the former Prevo's downtown -- a rather baffling move given the tiny size of that store -- and in 2004, they moved a third time to the former Kroger/Hamady/Carter's across from that, where Family Fare is now.

Both Cheboygan and Boyne City were originally B&C Family Center, a concept started by Ben Franklin Stores. If there were any other B&Cs I have yet to find them. Cheboygan was branded "Glen's Family Center" for a time. It also looks like Glen's shrank the Cheboygan store at some point, as part of the building is now Dunham's and Dollar Tree.

As mentioned above, Glen's took over Prevo's and Ashcraft's in 2004. In turn, most of the Glen's stores became Family Fare starting in 2010. Among all of the Glen's stores, only two that were open at the time of the Family Fare convert did not change, both in Petoskey. The northern store (also a former Giantway, and branded as "Glen's Fresh Market") became D&W, while the southern store closed and is now a Hobby Lobby. Alma (mentioned above) and Sault Ste. Marie have since closed.
Post Reply