Bristol Farms
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1982 Rolling Hills Estates, California |
| Headquarters | Carson, California |
Key people |
Kevin Davis President & CEO |
| Website |
bristolfarms.com lazyacres.com |
Bristol Farms Inc. is an upscale grocery store chain in California, United States. Founded in Los Angeles County, Bristol Farms operates fifteen stores, twelve in Southern California, and one in San Francisco. The fourteenth and fifteenth stores operate as Lazy Acres Market in Santa Barbara and Long Beach, respectively. After several changes in ownership over the years, the company is now privately owned by Endeavour Capital.[1]
History
Early history
Bristol Farms opened its first store in 1982, in Rolling Hills Estates, California, the company having been started by Irv Gronsky and Mike Burbank, who had worked together in the food industry for almost twenty years. Their vision was to combine the service and food quality of a corner grocer, butcher and baker with the theatre of Harrods in London. The first store was an overwhelming success.
The company added further stores in California. In June 1999, they acquired a famous landmark, Chalet Gourmet in Hollywood.
Owned by Albertsons
In 2004, Bristol Farms was purchased by Albertsons, Inc.
In October 2005, Bristol Farms purchased Santa Barbara-based Lazy Acres. Many believe that the independently owned single store Lazy Acres sold to Bristol Farms as a defensive move against Whole Foods' pending arrival into Santa Barbara. While this is Bristol Farms' first and only location in Santa Barbara, the 28,000-square-foot (2,600 m2) Lazy Acres store itself continues operating under its original format. The name Bristol Farms is not noted on signage or advertisements at Lazy Acres. The Long Beach Bristol Farms was converted into a second Lazy Acres in November 2012.
In 2006, Bristol Farms opened its doors at the newly expanded Westfield San Francisco Centre in downtown San Francisco, becoming the first Bristol Farms in Northern California. The San Francisco site covers more than half the space of the Concourse Level in the lower level of the mall.
Three former Albertsons locations have been converted into Bristol Farms, one in the La Jolla section of the city of San Diego, California, the second location in Palm Desert, California, which originally opened as Lucky, and the third location in the Westchester section of the city of Los Angeles, California.
Owned by SuperValu
On June 2, 2006, Bristol Farms' parent company, Albertsons, Inc., was purchased by investors led by Cerberus Capital Management and Supervalu, Inc., and upon closing of the transaction, Bristol Farms became a wholly owned subsidiary of SuperValu, Inc.
On November 12, 2008, Bristol Farms opened its seventeenth location. This 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) location, which unlike many of Bristol Farms current locations, was built new from the ground up. The store is located in the Bridgeport Marketplace mixed-use shopping center within the Bridgeport residential neighborhood in Santa Clarita, California. New features at this location are individual "shops" with full facades and themed props, a fresh juice and smoothie counter, a fresh sushi department with sushi made onsite every day, a coffee bar and an eat-in cafe. The wine area, with its four walls, wine racks and roof trellis, resembles a specialty wine boutique. Over 1,500 sq ft (140 m2). of hand-painted murals painted by studio artists at D L English Design depict picturesque scenes of the Santa Clarita Valley throughout the store.
Independent again
On October 29, 2010, SuperValu announced that it had sold the Bristol Farms chain to a new company formed by a private investment firm, Endeavour Capital, and the chain's management team.
Lazy Acres Market Inc.
Lazy Acres Market Inc. is a small chain of two grocery stores for natural and organic foods, gourmet foods, supplements and body care products, as well as eco-friendly goods. The stores, in Santa Barbara and Long Beach, are owned and operated by Bristol Farms. The original Santa Barbara store was founded in 1991 by Jimmy Searcy, Hugo van Seenus, and Irwin Carasso.