| |
|
1936 - 1946 |
The late 1930’s were a time of expansion for AG with the purchase of two warehouses. The first, the Associated Grocers warehouse in Joplin, Missouri came in 1936. Two years later, AG purchased all the merchandise from the bankrupt United Grocers, Springfield, Missouri warehouse for $200 a month. These two facilities enabled AG to expand its service coverage area throughout southern and southwest Missouri and into eastern Kansas. AG’s sales force began soliciting business beyond the metro areas.
|
Chain stores still dominated most markets, but independents with strengthened buying and advertising power were gaining. The Thriftway group began, and AG stores participated in daily radio advertising with a weekly budget of $178. Independents continued to offer services like credit and delivery to gain an edge on the chain stores.
While the three floor warehouse in Kansas City |
|
 |
|
| was thought to be the ultimate, order picking was slow with waits for the elevator commonplace. Stores phoned their weekly orders in on Thursday with scheduled pickups for the following Friday. If an order wasn’t ready when a store owner came to get it, he would go into the warehouse and pick his own order. No one had the luxury of time to wait for the order or to make another trip to the warehouse. Delivery service was available through Superior Trucking, but since there was a charge, many owners chose to pick their own stock. |
|
|
| |
|
