Bruno's Supermarkets
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bruno's Supermarkets is an American chain of grocery stores, founded in Birmingham, Alabama. It currently operates under the corporate umbrella of Bi-Lo, LLC, along with Bi-Lo Stores. Bruno's operates stores under several brand names, including Vincent's, Food World, FoodMax, and FoodFair, primarily in Alabama, with extra locations in Georgia and the Florida Panhandle.
The company began as a market opened by Joseph Bruno in Birmingham during the Great Depression. The company grew steadily, with ten stores in place during the 1950s, and 29 stores open under the Bruno's name when it became a publicly traded company in 1971. The following year, Bruno's entered the discount grocery business with its first Food World stores. Food Fair stores followed in 1983, and FoodMax — their largest stores featuring deeper discounts and larger selections — opened in 1984. The company also operated Big B Discount Drugs, a chain begun in 1968 and expanded to 40 stores before being sold to a succession of new owners; eventually most locations ended up as part of the CVS chain.
In 1995, the company was acquired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), a leveraged buyout firm. That acquisition as ill-fated, as the company's debt structure combined with management missteps and increased competition from Wal-Mart Supercenters to drive it into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company emerged from bankruptcy in 2000 after closing a number of unprofitable stores. The remainder of the company was sold to Ahold, a Dutch corporation, who then combined it with Bi-Lo. The new management struggled as well, and in 2005 Ahold finally sold the combined operation to Lone Star Funds, a private investment company which also owns Captain D's and Shoney's restaurants. Lone Star then sold many stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers, which operates the new stores under its Southern Family Markets affiliate.
[edit] Golf tournament
Bruno's was the chief corporate sponsor for many years of the Bruno's Memorial Classic golf tournament, a regular stop on the PGA Champions Tour. The "memorial" in the tournament name honors Lee and Angelo Bruno, brothers of founder Joe Bruno and founders of the tournament; they were killed in an airplane crash shortly after the tournament was announced in 1991. The first tournament was played the following year at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Hoover, Alabama.
With the Bruno's downsizing in 2005, the company was no longer willing to shoulder the entire cost of sponsorship for the tournament. Regions Financial Corporation took over as the title sponsor with Bruno's as a "presenting sponsor" for 2006 and the event moved to the new Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa, a Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail course in Hoover.
Ronnie Bruno, son of Angelo Bruno, continues to serve as chairman of the tournament. Additionally, the group that managed the tournament, run by Ronnie Bruno and Gene Hallman, later became a full-time event-management company known as the Bruno Event Team. The team runs a wide variety of events, mostly sports-related, including many championships for the Southeastern Conference. (Bruno himself is no longer associated with Bruno's Supermarkets, nor are any other Bruno family members.)
