Smith's Food and Drug

Smith's Food & Drug began in 1911 when Lorenzo Smith opened a small dry goods store in Brigham City, Utah. It was replaced with a larger store across the street in 1922 and renamed "Smith & Son's Market" in 1932.[1] When his son Dee Glen Smith joined the business after serving in World War II, he began immediately expanding it.[2][3]

The company's growth ramped up exponentially from 1946 to 1958. It changed its name to Smith's Super Market in 1952. When Dee Smith took over as president upon his father's death in 1958, he determined Brigham City was saturated, and felt the only option was to expand to other markets.[1] Through partnerships and acquisitions, Dee Smith built the company until his death at age 58 in 1984.[4] After his death, his eldest son Fred Smith, ran the chain until later, when his brother Jeff Smith became the chairman and CEO of Smith's.

In 1989, the company completed its initial public offering and shares of the company started trading on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1996, Smith's acquired the Arizona supermarket chain Smitty's Supermarkets.[5]

In 1997, Smith's Food & Drug was acquired by Portland-based Fred Meyer for about $700 million (equivalent to $1.28 billion in 2022) in stock.[6] The deal created a supermarket and general merchandise chain with 374 stores in 17 western states.[7]

Under the terms of the agreement, Smith's shareholders received 1.05 shares of Fred Meyer common stock for each share of Smith's common stock, or about $45 a share. Fred Meyer also assumed $1.3 billion (equivalent to $2.37 billion in 2022) in Smith's debt, which was accumulated largely from a recapitalization that was led by the Yucaipa Companies of Los Angeles.[8]

In 1998, Fred Meyer was acquired by Kroger in a deal that created a supermarket giant with $43 billion ($75.5 billion in 2022) in annual revenue and 2,200 stores in 31 states.[9][10][11][12] As a result of the Kroger–Fred Meyer merger, Smith's had immediately become a subsidiary of Kroger and most Smith's Food & Drug Centers in Arizona were rebranded as Fry's Food and Drug. Kroger paid about $8 billion (equivalent to $14.05 billion in 2022) in stock for Fred Meyer and assumed $4.8 billion (equivalent to $8.43 billion in 2022) of the company's debt, further consolidating the grocery business and creating the largest supermarket chain in the country.

With the transaction, Kroger regained the spot it lost to Albertsons as the nation's largest supplier of eggs and milk. The acquisition gave Kroger the status of the nation's largest supermarket company, stretching from the fast-growing Western markets, where Portland-based Fred Meyer is strong, to the Midwest and the Southeast, where the Cincinnati-based company has many stores and much visibility. The move gave Kroger even greater purchasing power and substantial economies of scale.[13] Many of the products sold at Smith's are Kroger-branded.

Nevada:

• Las Vegas- Skye Canyon - 9710 West Skye Canyon Park Drive
• Henderson- 845 East Lake Mead Parkway

New Mexico:

• Los Alamos- 751 Trinity Drive

Utah

• West Jordan - 9000 South
• West Jordan - The Highlands- 5710 West 7800 South
• Saratoga Springs
• Lehi 1550 E 3500 North
• SLC (South Valley Street)
• SLC (South 500 East)
• South Jordan West Daybreak Parkway
• Saint George North Mall Drive
• Springville
• Pleasant Grove
• West Point
• Logan
• Bountiful
• Kaysville
• Ogden

• SLC, Utah (South Temple Street)
• SLC, Utah (1100 East)
• Rock Springs, Wyoming
• Gillette, Wyoming

Just like other Kroger-affiliated stores, Smith's offers a rewards program for both customers and associates where rewards members can: buy certain items at certain sale prices, get discounts on certain items, earn fuel points that can allow Rewards members to save on fuel at Smith's or other Kroger-affiliated fuel centers, etc. Smith's Rewards can be used at other Kroger-affiliated stores.