Wakefern President Mike Stigers took to the stage Oct. 17 at the Hilton in Parsippany, New Jersey, for Wakefern Food Corp.’s Annual Meeting. In the ballroom audience and tuning in virtually were thousands of retail and corporate team members who came together to hear important business updates from leadership and plans for the next year.
It’s a much-anticipated fall event and a time for Wakefern colleagues and the families that make up the cooperative to reflect on the past and consider what’s next for a cooperative that will turn an impressive 78 in December.
[RELATED: Wakefern Reports $20.1B Retail Sales At Annual Meeting]
Stigers, a supermarket industry veteran who joined Wakefern in June 2023, took to the Annual Meeting stage for the second time along with Sean McMenamin, a Wakefern member who was named chairman last year. The two new leaders talked about the continued success, bright future and possibilities for the Keasbey, New Jersey-based cooperative.
“All of our accomplishments – from the past year and from the previous 78 years of Wakefern history – bring us to today. Right here. Right now,” Stigers told the audience. “To this moment when we get to decide how we are going to grow this cooperative for generations to come.”
And Wakefern has grown a lot over the decades – from a small cooperative consisting of eight neighborhood grocers into a supermarket leader in the Northeast and the largest retailer-owned cooperative in the United States. A pioneering spirit and commitment to innovation and cooperation among members has fueled that growth over nearly 80 years and positioned Wakefern for the future. For this reason, and numerous others, Wakefern has been named The Griffin Report’s Northeast Cooperative of the Year for 2024.
The cooperative today is made up of 45 members who independently own and operate supermarkets under the ShopRite, The Fresh Grocer, Price Rite Marketplace, Fairway Market, Gourmet Garage, Dearborn Market and Di Bruno Bros. banners. A total of 364 stores operate across New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, and retail sales this year reached a record $20.1 billion.
Together with its member companies, the cooperative encompasses nearly 80,000 team members and is one of the largest employers in New Jersey. Despite that size, Wakefern is still made up of family businesses and committed to its mission of “Helping Small Business Succeed in a Big Business World.”
Wakefern’s early days
The commitment to small business is rooted in tradition. The nation’s biggest supermarket cooperative started out small with founders who operated local produce stands, butcher shops and superettes. The post-World War II period was the start of a challenging time for neighborhood grocers. During the war, customer loyalty to local, mom-and-pop grocers was strong, but afterward, bigger self-service supermarkets were offering shoppers a wider selection at lower prices and loyalty to independents began to wane.
In 1946, in an effort to assist local mom-and-pop grocers, a sales representative from Del Monte Foods introduced eight New Jersey grocers to the idea of pooling their resources to purchase products at lower cost. The grocers banded together and used their new cooperative buying power to offer customers goods at more competitive prices. Wakefern Food Corp. was incorporated on Dec. 5, 1946.
Each of the eight founding members put up $4,000 to start the business, and the Wakefern name was created with initials from four of the original founders. Those grocers included Louis Weiss, Alex “Al” Aidekman and Abe Kesselman. The “fern” came from Dave Fern, who operated a market in Millburn, New Jersey.
The next wave of early Wakefern members and leaders included John Tully of Tully’s Market in Arlington, New Jersey; Nick Sumas, who started a small produce stand in South Orange, New Jersey, with help from his brother Perry; and Joseph Saker of the Saker family, who understood the importance of growing his family’s grocery store by joining the fledgling cooperative. Today, the Saker family’s Saker ShopRites and the Sumas family’s Village Super Market Inc. represent the two largest Wakefern members. Both opened new ShopRite stores this year.
“What strikes me about Wakefern and its members is the unique entrepreneurial spirit and steadfast commitment to investing in their family businesses to enhance their stores and make them the best they can be for customers,” Stigers said.
Not your traditional co-op
Another defining move for Wakefern came when the ShopRite banner was launched. Wakefern’s early members understood the power of shared purchasing but they also realized that they needed shared advertising, marketing and a shared name so shoppers understood the value the stores offered. The first ShopRite ad ran in March 1951 – a full-page advertisement in the Newark Evening News. It cost $1,000, and each member had to pay a portion of the cost.
“The very founding of the company demonstrated the art of the possible,” Stigers added. “Early members made the critical decision to operate under a single banner – the ShopRite banner – and to build a brand together. It was a brilliant move and different than other cooperatives. It’s one of the big reasons Wakefern remains successful 78 years later.”
Today there are nearly 280 ShopRite supermarkets located throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, serving millions of customers each week.
While ShopRite remains the “workhorse” banner of Wakefern, the cooperative has diversified over the years by adding new banners. Alternate banners include Price Rite Marketplace, The Fresh Grocer, Gourmet Garage, Fairway Market, Dearborn Market and, most recently, Philadelphia-based Di Bruno Bros.
“Our most recognizable banner is ShopRite, and our stores are well-known for affordable prices and a wide selection of name-brand groceries, fresh foods and store-made recipes as well as award-winning private label products in the traditional supermarket setting,” Stigers noted. “But members are also expanding with alternate banners like the Fresh Grocer, whose smaller footprint allows us to go into new locations with solid fresh offerings at affordable prices.”
Wakefern member Inserra Supermarkets and the Inserra family opened a Fresh Grocer earlier this month in Ringwood, New Jersey, and they plan to open another Fresh Grocer in Downtown Brooklyn next year. Member K. Thompson Foods and the Thompson family opened the first Fresh Grocer in New York on Long Island in August.
Wakefern also recently acquired the Di Bruno Bros. portfolio of Italian and European specialty products that are distributed nationally to wholesale and retail customers. The much-loved Philadelphia-based Di Bruno Bros. brand is a pioneering specialty food retailer and purveyor of gourmet cheeses and cured meats. The five Di Bruno Bros. stores in the city are being operated by Wakefern member Brown’s Super Stores, which is owned by the Brown family.
The deal secured the future for the family-operated Di Bruno Bros. while presenting new opportunities for Wakefern with the addition of the brand to the cooperative’s portfolio. And the arrangement once again demonstrated the entrepreneurial spirit of Wakefern, its family members and the art of the possible.
“We are committed to growing the Di Bruno Bros. brand and expanding distribution while remaining true to the Di Bruno family’s tradition of great food and outstanding quality,” Stigers said of the recent deal.
Wakefern’s committee structure also plays a key role in the company’s success and its ability to fulfill its mission to help small business succeed in a big business world.
Cooperative members represent multi-generational families who have been in the grocery business for decades and are invested in their businesses and the communities where their stores operate. Members share their knowledge with Wakefern team members on cooperative committees that innovate and support stores and retail teams.
“The first thing I noticed when I came to Wakefern was the talent and dedication of the people around me. Our team members come to work each day with the intention of doing the right thing for our members, our staff and team members in the stores. It’s inspiring,” Stigers said.
In addition to operating neighborhood supermarkets, Wakefern’s members also have deep roots in the community where their stores operate. From fighting hunger to promoting sustainability and health and wellness for associates and customers, Wakefern is a leader in both the supermarket industry and in corporate responsibility.
Wakefern’s signature hunger-fighting initiative, ShopRite Partners In Caring, celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, and Wakefern team members participated in the annual tradition of volunteering at Special Olympics New Jersey and the ShopRite-sponsored LPGA event. The cooperative also established a $1 million scholarship at Kean University in the name of Wakefern’s former president, Joe Sheridan, who retired last year after 47 years with the company.
Stigers said he’s excited now to take the reins of the storied company: “When we work together, with shared goals, we accomplish what others would say is impossible for a group of independent retailers.
“Our future and long-term success will depend upon us growing beyond our traditional boundaries, embracing new business opportunities and thinking differently about how we leverage the services we provide. It’s the art of the possible, and we know the cooperative can do it.”
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