DID ANY OF YOU HERE WORK FOR FARMER JACK ??? I HAVE READ AND HEARD FROM SOME CUTTERS OVER THE YEARS THAT THEY GOT CAUGHT IN THEIR CLOSINGS.
The company dated to 1924, when Jewish Russian immigrant Tom Borman opened a neighborhood grocery store, Tom's Quality Meats, at 12th and Forest in Detroit. In 1927, his brother Abraham "Al" Borman started his own store on Kercheval on the city's east side. The brothers eventually formed a partnership. The brothers split up in 1945, with Tom developing Lucky Stores and Al developing Food Fair markets. In 1955, the two operations merge into Food Fair, operating under the corporate entity Borman Food Stores Inc. Four years later,the renamed Borman's Inc., sold more than 400,000 shares of stock,with the Bormans retaining control. Proceeds from the stock sale fueled a buying binge: Borman's bought State Super Markets of Ferndale American Stores Inc., acquired nine Lipson-Gourwitz Co. markets in Detroit and planned an expansion to 46 stores.
In 1966, Borman announced the opening of three suburban shopping centers that would contain gas stations, car washes, garden supply stores, Yankee discount stores and food stores operating under the new moniker of "Farmer Jack."
By 1972, Detroit became a major zone of grocery store competition,with about six major grocery chains competing in the region, including Chatham's and Great Scott! In a speech, Paul Borman claimed A&P's move to discount-type stores had nearly destroyed the supermarket industry.
During a decade of merger-mania in the supermarket business, Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc.(A&P) paid $76 million for 79 Farmer Jack stores operated by Borman's. The buyout placed A&P in the number one slot among grocery stores in the Detroit area, with control of 36% of the market. By 1994, nearly all A&P stores in Metro Detroit had been converted to Farmer Jack stores.
In June 2007,the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co(A&P), the parent company of Farmer Jack, announced that all remaining Farmer Jack stores were slated to be sold or closed by July 7, 2007. All Farmer Jack stores in Michigan were shut down on this day.
i know alot of people that worked for farmer jacks around here. they were all put out of work. i almost got a job at one of them i am glad that didn't happen. they were really big beautiful inside and out side stores. it was really sad when they crashed. I still drive by the buildings sometimes and they are usually vacant and had been for a few years now. I do remember when they first started closing down before I moved to virginia it was good for business at the store i working for because we suddenly had so many more customers I also remember my market manager and the owner of the store going to equipment auctions at farmer jacks and coming back with some really nice equipment. did it hurt me? I don't know but it sure hurt alot of people i know
