Rainbow Foods was a supermarket chain in Minnesota. Founded in 1983, it operated more than 40 stores across the state at its peak and was the second-largest grocery store chain in the Twin Cities, behind Cub Foods. However, the arrival of other grocery stores in the market, such as Aldi and Hy-Vee in the 2000s and 2010s caused the grocery store chain to shrink to 27 locations by May 2014. Soon after, nine more closed and eighteen were sold by then-owner Roundy's; only six of these kept the Rainbow name.
History
The company was founded by Sid Applebaum and D. B. Reinhart in 1983 and grew to become the second-largest grocery chain in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area. The chain was sold to Texas wholesaler Fleming Companies in 1994 and then in 2003 to Milwaukee-based Roundy's. Roundy's, citing increased competition in the Minneapolis-Saint-Paul market, sold 18 stores to a consortium of companies including Lund Food Holdings, SuperValu, Jerry's Enterprises, Haug Enterprises, and Radermacher Enterprises. Twelve of these stores were converted to other brands, while six remain under the Rainbow banner. Roundy's has closed the remaining nine stores on July 22 and retains no ownership of the Rainbow Foods brand name. Two more closed months later, and, by September 2018, only one store remained, which closed on September 17.
Decline
The decline of Rainbow Foods arguably started in 2003, when Fleming Companies decided to sell 31 of the chains leases to Milwaukee based Roundys for 82.5 million dollars. Fleming decided to close the remaining 12 locations it had owned and pull out of the chain all together. In a surprise move onMay 7, 2014, Roundys announced that it had sold 18 of its Rainbow Foods stores to a consortium of area competitors and businesses for 65 million dollars. These competitors were Lunds and Byerlys, SuperValu owner of Cub Foods, the number one grocery store in Minnesota, Jerry's Enterprises, Haug Enterprises, and Radermacher Enterprises. The company could not find a bidder for nine of the remaining stores it owned and they all closed on July 22, 2014. The stores that were purchased by the consortium were converted into Cub and Lunds and Byerlys, while six remained Rainbow locations owned by the various members of the consortium. In September 2014 four months after buying the Rainbow Foods location in West St. Paul, supermarket owner Jerry's Enterprises says it now plans to close the store in November. In a letter sent to the city, Jerry's says the company has "developed plans based on business considerations" to close its Rainbow store at 1660 S. Robert St. The Rainbow on Minneapolis' Lake Street is also slated to close, Jerry's said. The stores join nine other Rainbow supermarkets that were shut down in July, after Rainbow's owner Roundys left the Twin Cities market. After the closures the brand only had four remaining stores. The two Rainbow Foods stores on Lake Street and on Robert Street were said to close by November 9, 2014. After the closures there were only four Rainbow stores left. Another Rainbow store, in Plymouth, was converted into a Cub in July 2016, which closed two years later and is now a Hy-Vee store. After this conversion, three Rainbow foods remained. On September 21, 2017, the Rainbow Foods at the Midway Shopping Center in St. Paul closed. It closed due to a soccer stadium being built on the property, requiring the existing store and part of the mall to be demolished. The Richfield HUB location off 66th street closed inMarch 2018, leaving one remaining Rainbow location in Maplewood. On September 14, 2018, it was announced that the last Rainbow Foods location, in Maplewood, would close on Monday, September 17, officially marking the end of Rainbow Foods after 35 years. At the time of its closing, it was owned and operated by SuperValu.
