Brookshire Grocery Unveils New Convenience Format

TYLER, Texas — Brookshire Grocery Co. is launching a new banner that will compete with the convenience channel.

The Tyler-based company is introducing its Spring Market stores, which will provide hometown convenience in an easy-to-shop format with a "surprising assortment" of items at competitive prices, according to the grocer.

Spring Market will occupy 25 former Walmart Express locations that Brookshire is acquiring. Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. closed 269 stores in January, including the 102 it operated under the Express format, as part of a retooling of its entire store base, as CSNews Online previously reported.

The new banner will debut this summer. The store locations range from southern Louisiana to west Texas. Locations in Texas include Anson, Diana, DeKalb, Edgewood, Frankston, Godley, Grandview, Hughes Springs, Haskell, Italy, Kemp, Leonard, Lone Star, Maud, Merkel, Naples, Palmer, Waskom, Whitewright and Winters, while Louisiana locations include Colfax, Iowa, Lake Arthur, Mamou and Zwolle.

"Brookshire Grocery Co. is already known throughout our market areas for having great stores, and we are confident that our customers in these new markets will feel the exact same way," said Chairman and CEO Brad Brookshire. "Our Spring Market stores will stand for friendly service, quality products, affordable convenience and a pleasant shopping environment. We are also really excited to hire hundreds of employees from these communities to help us take care of our new customers. We look forward to making a positive difference in each of these communities through our people, products, stores and service."

The Spring Market name represents and honors Brookshire's history, which began in 1928 with the opening of its first store on Spring Avenue in Tyler.

Brookshire operates 152 stores in three states — Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas — along with three distribution centers and six manufacturing facilities.