Company History A proud heritage.

 

 

Brookshire Grocery Co., which operates Super 1 Foods Stores in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, has roots that stretch back to 1928 when Wood T. Brookshire opened a small, 25 x 100-foot store on the downtown square in Tyler, Texas. He and five brothers operated several stores in East Texas until the partnership dissolved in 1939. At that time, Wood became sole owner of three stores in Tyler that served as the cornerstone of today’s company.

 

Wood founded the company with strong convictions in a “people first” operating philosophy, encouraging a service-driven attitude among all who worked alongside him and rewarding them with competitive wages and generous benefits. He recognized the grocery business as his calling — a way for him to serve his fellow men by providing fair-priced products of the highest quality for consumers and a partner-style work environment for employees.

 

The company made history in several ways during its early years, including having the distinction of operating the first air-conditioned grocery store in East Texas — which opened in Tyler in 1939 after fire destroyed another location.

 

As the company grew, with stores starting to pop up across East Texas, Brookshire’s opened its first warehouse in 1953. Through the years, the company continued to experience healthy growth, building new stores in new markets and branching into even more territories by acquiring stores from other operators.

 

Today, Brookshire Grocery Co. has more than 150 supermarkets operating in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi under four distinct banners:

• Brookshire’s Food Stores
  Full-service supermarkets featuring everything from specialty departments to carryout service;

• Super 1 Foods Stores
  Upscale warehouse-style stores with lower operating costs passed on to consumers;

• Olé Foods
  Heavy emphasis on meeting the demands of Hispanic consumers; and

• ALPS (Always Low Price Store)
  Prototype discount-store format.

The company also operates three distribution facilities — two in Tyler and one in Monroe, La. — with more than 2 million total square feet and a fleet of tractor-trailer rigs. BGC’s internal manufacturing facilities include bakery, dairy, ice cream, yogurt, fresh-cut, ice and water/drink plants, all in the Tyler area, which produce a wide variety of award-winning products such as the popular Goldenbrook Farms Premium Ice Cream.

 

Brookshire Grocery Co. currently employs approximately 12,000 people who are proudly referred to as “partners.”