Red Food

Red Food was started in 1908 by Frank McDonald.{{cite web |last=Jolley |first=Harmon |date=2005-11-23 |title=Turkey Price Trend in Chattanooga, 1900 - 2005 |url=https://www.chattanoogan.com/2005/11/23/76391/Turkey-Price-Trend-in-Chattanooga-1900.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522151739/http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_76391.asp |archive-date=2011-05-22 |access-date=2007-11-01 |publisher=The Chattanoogan}} During World War II, for the first time, Red Food sold turkeys for forty-five cents per pound to customers for Thanksgiving. They also told customers to "invite a soldier and serve turkey this Thanksgiving." In 1979, Promodès, a food distribution firm based in Caen, France, made a bid to buy Red Food Stores, Inc.{{Cite news |date=1988-12-07 |title=Promodès: les affres de rachat |url=http://referentiel.nouvelobs.com/archives_pdf/OBS1256_19881201/OBS1256_19881201_077.pdf |access-date=2025-01-07 |work=Nouvel Obs |pages=77}} for $23 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=23000000|start_year=1979}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}). By 1980, the acquisition was completed{{Cite journal |last= |first= |date=2003-05-28 |title=1980-1984 |url=https://www.lsa-conso.fr/1980-1984,3675 |journal=L. S. A. conso |language=fr}} for a total of $36 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=36000000|start_year=1980}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}). The Red Food purchase gave Promodès 34 supermarkets in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. In order to finance Promodès' expansion, which would invest more than Ffr 2 billion between 1979 and 1984, the company went public in 1979.

The Chattanooga store was built in 1984.{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Kathleen |title=Nashville Then: August 1984 |url=https://www.tennessean.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2014/08/21/nashville-then-august-1984/14377571/ |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=The Tennessean |language=en-US}} By 1988, the chain's sales reached $600 million, 30% of Promodès' consolidated sales.

In April 1989, Red Food Store's purchase of seven supermarkets in its hometown owned by Kroger Co. was halted at virtually the 11th hour by the Federal Trade Commission, which decided the merger would substantially hamper competition in the market. The FTC action came unexpectedly.{{cite news| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=82BMAQAAIAAJ&q=%22FTC+halts+Red+Food%27s+Kroger+deal.+%28purchase+of+7+supermarkets+from+Kroger+Co.+in+the+Chattanooga+area%29&pg=PA600| title=FTC halts Red Food's Kroger deal. (purchase of 7 supermarkets from Kroger Co. in the Chattanooga area) | year=1990 | isbn=9780160353512 |access-date=2008-01-02}} A month later, the FTC issued a complaint, challenging Red Food Stores' $6.5 million acquisition of all seven Kroger Co. grocery stores in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The commission lodged the complaint after a Federal appeals court rejected its request for an injunction blocking the transaction.{{cite news| url= http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4331/is_198905/ai_n15103581| title=FTC responds with complaint as Red Food-Kroger deal closes. (Red Food acquiring Kroger supermarkets in Chattanooga) |access-date=2008-01-02}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}

In 1994, Red Food Stores, Inc. was bought by Ahold for $129 million, while Red Food stores were changed into Ahold's BI-LO stores in 1995.[http://www.hed.msu.edu/internationalretailing/company/Ahold/expansion.html Ahold in U.S.A.], accessed September 10, 2006 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060831063249/http://www.hed.msu.edu/internationalretailing/company/Ahold/expansion.html |date=August 31, 2006 }} Merging the Red Food stores was tenuous because of the stores' outdated computer system, but the acquisition effectively grew Ahold's yearly benefits.{{Cite news |date=1995-05-23 |title=L'intégration de Red Food Stores cause du tracas à Ahold |url=https://www.lesechos.fr/1995/05/lintegration-de-red-food-stores-cause-du-tracas-a-ahold-858352 |work=Les Échos |language=fr}}

In July 2015, Southeastern Grocers, the current owner of BI-LO, announced the sale of its 21 BI-LO stores in the Chattanooga market and eight stores in Northern Georgia to K-VA-T Food Stores, which would rebrand the stores under its Food City banner. This sale ended BI-LO's presence in the Tennessee market.{{cite web|url=http://supermarketnews.com/retail-financial/k-va-t-buy-convert-bi-lo-chattanooga |title=K-VA-T to buy, convert Bi-Lo in Chattanooga |publisher=SupermarketNews.com |date=July 23, 2015 |access-date=July 29, 2015}}

File:RedFood1994LogoSm.png

The first logo used by Red Food Stores, Inc. was similar to the second one (as seen in this article), but with a rooster in the middle of it. The last logo used was plain red with little or no curves around the inside and outside of the letters. It was introduced a year before Ahold bought the company.{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/0c1b9061da6f448186d063eff437d5c8|title=Ahold USA Folds Red Food Stores Into BI-LO Chain|work=Associated Press|access-date=28 October 2021}}

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