Chatham (grocer)

Chatham was a supermarket chain, now defunct, headquartered in southeastern Michigan, United States.

History

The Jewish Weisberg family,[1] already in the grocery business, purchased Chatham Village Supermarket in 1947.[2][3] By 1963, Chatham (the "Village" having been dropped) had grown to nine stores in East Side Detroit.[4] Peter Weisberg served as president and chairman of the board[2] and various other family members occupied top executive positions.[3] By August 1968, it had grown to 24 stores.[5]

In 1975, it was the first company in the Michigan area to try out the Universal Product Code.[6]

In October 1980, it was believed that Chatham was the second largest supermarket chain in the region by number of stores (44) and sales volume (around $550 million), behind Farmer Jack, although this could not be confirmed because Chatham was privately owned and did not provide any data.[7] That year, it also had three Warehouse Way discount drugstores and a Chatham Plus superstore and opened a warehouse store called Pak-n-Save.[7] In 1982, the Chatham Plus five-year experiment was considered a failure, as was a wholesale meat processing plant;[8] opening in 1966, the latter closed in January 1979.[9] At the time of its sale in May 1985, the chain had either 50 stores,[3] 39 stores, or 33 supermarkets and eight Pak-n-Saves;[10] it was purchased by Nu-Trax, Inc., headed by Wendell Smith.[10][11]

In March 1986, Nu-Trax was purchased by Alex Dandy, a businessman who owned the Hamady Brothers food chain in Flint, Michigan,[11][12] at which point Chatham was down to 21 stores and 1000 employees.[13] Under his leadership, all but two stores were shut down.[13] Dandy illegally diverted assets of the company for his personal benefit, and Chatham was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1987.[11] Dandy was convicted in 1991, of tax offenses, mail fraud, bankruptcy fraud, and obstruction of justice.[11]

External links

• Chatham memories - site for former Chatham employees. Includes history of company