Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Jewel Companies shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Jewel Companies offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Jewel Companies at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Jewel Companies? Wrong! If the Jewel Companies is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Jewel Companies then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Jewel Companies? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Jewel Companies and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Jewel Companies wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Jewel Companies then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Jewel Companies site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Jewel Companies, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Jewel Companies, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

{{Infobox_Company| company_name = The Jewel Companies, Inc.| company_logo = | company_type = Subsidiary of Supervalu (United States) || slogan = Fresh to your family from Jewel|| foundation = 1899 (Chicago, Illinois, United States)]| key_people = Jeff Noddle, Chairman and CEO
Mike Jackson, President and COO
Kevin Tripp, R.Ph, Executive Vice President; President, Retail Midwest| industry = Retailing| num_employees =| products = supermarkets| revenue =| net_income =| homepage = www.jewelosco.com| parent = Supervalu (United States)-->

For the defunct Australia supermarket chain see Jewel Food Stores (Australia)

Jewel is an United States supermarket chain store that has 203 stores across northern and central Illinois and in portions of Indiana in the Chicago market. Jewel-Osco, SuperValu. Last accessed February 24, 2007. Jewel's warehouse and management offices are located in Melrose Park, Illinois, Illinois. As of June 2, 2006, Jewel and Jewel-Osco have become a wholly owned subsidiary of Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based Supervalu (United States). Supervalu has publicly stated that Jewel's headquarters and operations management will remain in Melrose Park. They consolidated the support for the Osco side of the stores to the Melrose Park facility, as of December 2006. Supervalu also brought back the Jewel slogan, "Fresh to Your Family (from Jewel)" History Beginning Jewel was founded in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Vernon Skiff in 1899 as a door-to-door delivery service for coffee. In 1902 it took the name Jewel Tea Company when Skiff partnered with Frank P. Ross, later moving to Barrington, Illinois in 1930. In 1932 Jewel acquired the Chicago unit of Loblaw Groceterias, Inc., then a chain of 72 self-service stores and four Chicago grocery stores operated by the Middle West Stores Company, and began operating them under the name Jewel Food Stores, Inc.

In 1934, Jewel Food Stores merged with Jewel Tea Company. In the 1960s and 1970s, Eisner Food Stores, located in downstate Illinois and west central Indiana (Lafayette, Indiana, West Lafayette, Indiana), were part of the Jewel company; some time in the early 1980s, those store were converted to the Jewel name. Jewel sold its home shopping service in 1981.

Before 1970, Jewel stores were typically located on main arteries of city streets. Between 1970 and 1990, Jewel moved or expanded most of their stores to be freestanding buildings with ample parking. After its 1961 acquisition of Osco, Jewel built and operated many side-by-side stores during the 1960s and 1970s, but most construction after 1983 consolidated Jewel and Osco stores together as one large store under one roof. The two stores operate to the customer as one unit; for instance, a customer can check out any items at Jewel or Osco registers, find Jewel and Osco merchandise co-mingled throughout the store, and can call one telephone number to reach their Jewel-Osco. However, each operating unit keeps its own separate marketing identity to the public as a "food store" or a "drug store." Jewel and Osco stores under the same roof have separate managers, ordering and receiving procedures, budgets, and employees.

American Stores Jewel Food Stores was taken over by American Stores in 1984.

To consolidate the names of some of its subsidiaries under one title with nationwide recognition, American Stores renamed some of its Skaggs stores to Jewel Osco in mid-September 1991. American replaced the Skaggs Alpha Beta name with that of Jewel Osco on all 76 stores in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas. Within months, the renamed stores in Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas would be sold to Albertsons.

Albertsons and Supervalu Jewel became part of Albertsons holdings in 1999 when American Stores was taken over. Jewel-Osco information, Hoovers.com, Last accessed January 17, 2007.

Seven years later, parent company Albertsons and its stores would be taken over by two separate groups. With the approval on May 30, 2006 by shareholders of the break-up of Albertsons, all Jewel-Osco and Jewel Food Stores outside of Springfield, Illinois are now wholly owned by Supervalu (United States) (and the Springfield stores, which had been acquired by an investment group led by Cerberus Capital Management, are being sold to the operators of the Cub Foods stores in the Springfield market, who will rebrand them as Cub Foods), while all free-standing Osco drugstores are now owned by CVS Corporation. The company will continue to use the Osco name as the licenses for pharmacies in Albertsons, Jewel, Star Market and Shaw's Supermarkets.

Supervalu announced on January 5, 2007, that it would offer for sale its Jewel-Osco stores in the Milwaukee area. Jewel-Osco stores for sale, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 5, 2007. Pick 'n Save agreed to take five of the 15 stores. 5 Jewel-Osco stores to reopen Friday as Pick 'n Saves, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 30, 2007. Two other stores were purchased by Lena's Food Market. Lena's buying 2 Jewel stores, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, February 2, 2007. Supervalu announced to its workers that the remaining stores, if unsold, would close at the end of March. Jewel workers receive notice, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 24, 2007.

Today Currently, Jewel-Osco employs over 45,000 associates. Its customer base gives it a 45% share of the grocery market in Illinois, where the chain shares a virtual duopoly with the Safeway Inc.-owned Dominick's chain second at 15% Chicago Tribune, Feb 13, 2007,http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0702130239feb13,1,6035879.story?coll=chi-news. Eighty percent of all households in Chicago metropolitan area are in a Jewel-Osco store at least once a month. It’s not only how he works, but how well he works with others that has made Greg Josefowicz the 1999 Illinois Retailer of the Year, Illinois Retail Merchants Association, October 1999 (#189).

Jewel Grand Bazaar From 1962 into the 1970s, the chain operated an experimental Jewel Grand Bazaar, which built out in one store on the southwest side of Chicago—a store that encompassed an entire city block at the northwest corner of 54th Street and Pulaski Road. These stores featured bulk packaging, free samples on weekends, and 24-hour service. See photos: photos This experimental store was in service from 1962 until that particular building was remodeled and updated in the late 1970s. In the 2000s it has been converted to a standard Jewel-Osco store. In 1977, a "Jewel Grand Bazaar" was opened at 6505 W. Diversey in the Brickyard Mall. The Diversey Grand Bazaar was later reformatted in the 1990s to a regular Jewel grocery store, but continued to carry some of the traditional "Grand Bazaar" features such as bulk foods. With the reconstruction of the Brickyard Mall in 2003, the Grand Bazaar store was demolished and replaced with a smaller Jewel grocery store.

Other concepts Jewel Companies tried other concepts and ideas. They are credited with selling the first generic brand product line in 1977. A historic walk down the aisles of the supermarket, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 17, 1999. The packaging had no name or pictures — just what the contents were and a UPC code and required nutritional information on a white package with an avocado-green stripe.

Jewel once operated a store branded No Frills, a very basic store they only sold generic products, similar to ALDI. In Rockford, Illinois, a store called Magna is an upgraded version of No Frills, a store with namebrand products.

President's Choice house brand Jewel-Osco has been offering Canadian staple President's Choice branded products since the early 1990s. President's Choice is a house brand created and distributed by Loblaw Companies Limited Toronto, Ontario. Even though Jewel-Osco and Loblaw's carries President's Choice products, Loblaw's and any of Jewel's past and present owners are unrelated.

Chain expansion Jewel-Osco has steadily expanded in the Chicago area. Only eleven of the chain's Chicago stores are the stand-alone Jewel Food Stores that date back to the 1950s and '60s; the rest are all newer Jewel-Osco concept stores. Jewel had Osco stores in Florida and small discount grocery stores called Jewel-T, a play on the original company name Jewel Tea. In 1989 American Stores expanded to Florida using the Jewel-Osco name but operating as a separate division distinct from the midwest Jewel-Osco operations. Jewel Osco dazzles Tampa with sparkling new format, Drug Store News, April 3, 1989. Florida was considered a good market for Jewel because of the high number of Chicagoans who had relocated to that state. However, after a few years, Jewel closed those stores. In the late 1990s, Jewel purchased a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, food chain and opened fifteen Jewel-Osco combo stores in the Milwaukee metro area, some of which employed urban designs. Milwaukee pushes retailers for "responsible" development, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, December 11, 2004.

Workers at Chicago area Jewel stores are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers, make higher wages than workers in nonunionized stores, and constitute a stable workforce. Meat and deli employees are members of UFCW Local 1546.

Organizational philosophy A 1972 book written by Jewel senior leaders, The Jewel Concepts, stressed good citizenship within their community, "watching the horizon," and sponsorship of young people.

In an Illinois Retail Merchants Association online article, retired Jewel-Osco chairman Don Perkins reflects, "Jewel has a tradition of people orientation." One of these traditions came in the form of the "first assistant" philosophy of management. Each higher-level manager was to see himself or herself as serving the employees he or she managed. On the store level, this would mean that the manager would be the "first assistant" to the employees by making personal contact and taking personal interest, solving problems, suggesting solutions, and using flexibility in order to best serve the employees' concerns. Then the floor employees' duty was to be in service as the "first assistant" to the customers.

Jewel also was progressive in creating partnerships with vendors, at a time when the practice was rare.

Stores

References in film , with Jewel in the background, from The Blues Brothers.Jewel was mentioned in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding and can also be seen in the background of the famous mall car-chase scene of The Blues Brothers (film).

See also Osco Drug for a history of Osco Drug. References External links

{{Infobox_Company| company_name = The Jewel Companies, Inc.| company_logo = | company_type = Subsidiary of Supervalu (United States) || slogan = Fresh to your family from Jewel|| foundation = 1899 (Chicago, Illinois, United States)]| key_people = Jeff Noddle, Chairman and CEO
Mike Jackson, President and COO
Kevin Tripp, R.Ph, Executive Vice President; President, Retail Midwest| industry = Retailing| num_employees =| products = supermarkets| revenue =| net_income =| homepage = www.jewelosco.com| parent = Supervalu (United States)-->

For the defunct Australia supermarket chain see Jewel Food Stores (Australia)

Jewel is an United States supermarket chain store that has 203 stores across northern and central Illinois and in portions of Indiana in the Chicago market. Jewel-Osco, SuperValu. Last accessed February 24, 2007. Jewel's warehouse and management offices are located in Melrose Park, Illinois, Illinois. As of June 2, 2006, Jewel and Jewel-Osco have become a wholly owned subsidiary of Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based Supervalu (United States). Supervalu has publicly stated that Jewel's headquarters and operations management will remain in Melrose Park. They consolidated the support for the Osco side of the stores to the Melrose Park facility, as of December 2006. Supervalu also brought back the Jewel slogan, "Fresh to Your Family (from Jewel)" History Beginning Jewel was founded in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Vernon Skiff in 1899 as a door-to-door delivery service for coffee. In 1902 it took the name Jewel Tea Company when Skiff partnered with Frank P. Ross, later moving to Barrington, Illinois in 1930. In 1932 Jewel acquired the Chicago unit of Loblaw Groceterias, Inc., then a chain of 72 self-service stores and four Chicago grocery stores operated by the Middle West Stores Company, and began operating them under the name Jewel Food Stores, Inc.

In 1934, Jewel Food Stores merged with Jewel Tea Company. In the 1960s and 1970s, Eisner Food Stores, located in downstate Illinois and west central Indiana (Lafayette, Indiana, West Lafayette, Indiana), were part of the Jewel company; some time in the early 1980s, those store were converted to the Jewel name. Jewel sold its home shopping service in 1981.

Before 1970, Jewel stores were typically located on main arteries of city streets. Between 1970 and 1990, Jewel moved or expanded most of their stores to be freestanding buildings with ample parking. After its 1961 acquisition of Osco, Jewel built and operated many side-by-side stores during the 1960s and 1970s, but most construction after 1983 consolidated Jewel and Osco stores together as one large store under one roof. The two stores operate to the customer as one unit; for instance, a customer can check out any items at Jewel or Osco registers, find Jewel and Osco merchandise co-mingled throughout the store, and can call one telephone number to reach their Jewel-Osco. However, each operating unit keeps its own separate marketing identity to the public as a "food store" or a "drug store." Jewel and Osco stores under the same roof have separate managers, ordering and receiving procedures, budgets, and employees.

American Stores Jewel Food Stores was taken over by American Stores in 1984.

To consolidate the names of some of its subsidiaries under one title with nationwide recognition, American Stores renamed some of its Skaggs stores to Jewel Osco in mid-September 1991. American replaced the Skaggs Alpha Beta name with that of Jewel Osco on all 76 stores in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas. Within months, the renamed stores in Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas would be sold to Albertsons.

Albertsons and Supervalu Jewel became part of Albertsons holdings in 1999 when American Stores was taken over. Jewel-Osco information, Hoovers.com, Last accessed January 17, 2007.

Seven years later, parent company Albertsons and its stores would be taken over by two separate groups. With the approval on May 30, 2006 by shareholders of the break-up of Albertsons, all Jewel-Osco and Jewel Food Stores outside of Springfield, Illinois are now wholly owned by Supervalu (United States) (and the Springfield stores, which had been acquired by an investment group led by Cerberus Capital Management, are being sold to the operators of the Cub Foods stores in the Springfield market, who will rebrand them as Cub Foods), while all free-standing Osco drugstores are now owned by CVS Corporation. The company will continue to use the Osco name as the licenses for pharmacies in Albertsons, Jewel, Star Market and Shaw's Supermarkets.

Supervalu announced on January 5, 2007, that it would offer for sale its Jewel-Osco stores in the Milwaukee area. Jewel-Osco stores for sale, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 5, 2007. Pick 'n Save agreed to take five of the 15 stores. 5 Jewel-Osco stores to reopen Friday as Pick 'n Saves, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 30, 2007. Two other stores were purchased by Lena's Food Market. Lena's buying 2 Jewel stores, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, February 2, 2007. Supervalu announced to its workers that the remaining stores, if unsold, would close at the end of March. Jewel workers receive notice, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 24, 2007.

Today Currently, Jewel-Osco employs over 45,000 associates. Its customer base gives it a 45% share of the grocery market in Illinois, where the chain shares a virtual duopoly with the Safeway Inc.-owned Dominick's chain second at 15% Chicago Tribune, Feb 13, 2007,http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0702130239feb13,1,6035879.story?coll=chi-news. Eighty percent of all households in Chicago metropolitan area are in a Jewel-Osco store at least once a month. It’s not only how he works, but how well he works with others that has made Greg Josefowicz the 1999 Illinois Retailer of the Year, Illinois Retail Merchants Association, October 1999 (#189).

Jewel Grand Bazaar From 1962 into the 1970s, the chain operated an experimental Jewel Grand Bazaar, which built out in one store on the southwest side of Chicago—a store that encompassed an entire city block at the northwest corner of 54th Street and Pulaski Road. These stores featured bulk packaging, free samples on weekends, and 24-hour service. See photos: photos This experimental store was in service from 1962 until that particular building was remodeled and updated in the late 1970s. In the 2000s it has been converted to a standard Jewel-Osco store. In 1977, a "Jewel Grand Bazaar" was opened at 6505 W. Diversey in the Brickyard Mall. The Diversey Grand Bazaar was later reformatted in the 1990s to a regular Jewel grocery store, but continued to carry some of the traditional "Grand Bazaar" features such as bulk foods. With the reconstruction of the Brickyard Mall in 2003, the Grand Bazaar store was demolished and replaced with a smaller Jewel grocery store.

Other concepts Jewel Companies tried other concepts and ideas. They are credited with selling the first generic brand product line in 1977. A historic walk down the aisles of the supermarket, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 17, 1999. The packaging had no name or pictures — just what the contents were and a UPC code and required nutritional information on a white package with an avocado-green stripe.

Jewel once operated a store branded No Frills, a very basic store they only sold generic products, similar to ALDI. In Rockford, Illinois, a store called Magna is an upgraded version of No Frills, a store with namebrand products.

President's Choice house brand Jewel-Osco has been offering Canadian staple President's Choice branded products since the early 1990s. President's Choice is a house brand created and distributed by Loblaw Companies Limited Toronto, Ontario. Even though Jewel-Osco and Loblaw's carries President's Choice products, Loblaw's and any of Jewel's past and present owners are unrelated.

Chain expansion Jewel-Osco has steadily expanded in the Chicago area. Only eleven of the chain's Chicago stores are the stand-alone Jewel Food Stores that date back to the 1950s and '60s; the rest are all newer Jewel-Osco concept stores. Jewel had Osco stores in Florida and small discount grocery stores called Jewel-T, a play on the original company name Jewel Tea. In 1989 American Stores expanded to Florida using the Jewel-Osco name but operating as a separate division distinct from the midwest Jewel-Osco operations. Jewel Osco dazzles Tampa with sparkling new format, Drug Store News, April 3, 1989. Florida was considered a good market for Jewel because of the high number of Chicagoans who had relocated to that state. However, after a few years, Jewel closed those stores. In the late 1990s, Jewel purchased a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, food chain and opened fifteen Jewel-Osco combo stores in the Milwaukee metro area, some of which employed urban designs. Milwaukee pushes retailers for "responsible" development, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, December 11, 2004.

Workers at Chicago area Jewel stores are members of the United Food and Commercial Workers, make higher wages than workers in nonunionized stores, and constitute a stable workforce. Meat and deli employees are members of UFCW Local 1546.

Organizational philosophy A 1972 book written by Jewel senior leaders, The Jewel Concepts, stressed good citizenship within their community, "watching the horizon," and sponsorship of young people.

In an Illinois Retail Merchants Association online article, retired Jewel-Osco chairman Don Perkins reflects, "Jewel has a tradition of people orientation." One of these traditions came in the form of the "first assistant" philosophy of management. Each higher-level manager was to see himself or herself as serving the employees he or she managed. On the store level, this would mean that the manager would be the "first assistant" to the employees by making personal contact and taking personal interest, solving problems, suggesting solutions, and using flexibility in order to best serve the employees' concerns. Then the floor employees' duty was to be in service as the "first assistant" to the customers.

Jewel also was progressive in creating partnerships with vendors, at a time when the practice was rare.

Stores

References in film , with Jewel in the background, from The Blues Brothers.Jewel was mentioned in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding and can also be seen in the background of the famous mall car-chase scene of The Blues Brothers (film).

See also Osco Drug for a history of Osco Drug. References External links



 

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