Hannaford is an American supermarket chain based in Scarborough, Maine.[3] Founded in 1883, Hannaford now operates stores inNew England and upstate New York. Hannaford is owned by the American subsidiary of the Belgian Delhaize Group, Delhaize America, which owns over 1,500 stores along the Eastern Seaboard, mostly in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. There are currently 177[4] Hannaford stores; additionally, Delhaize America operates 104 Sweetbay Supermarket locations in Florida, which are modeled after Hannaford and sell Hannaford brand products.[5]

In number of stores operated, Hannaford is now (as of April 2011) the second-largest supermarket chain headquartered in New England, behind only Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop, and the largest private employer in the State of Maine.[6]

Typical Hannaford store.
 

 
Hannaford Supermarket Saugus, Massachusetts

History
Hannaford was founded in 1883 by Arthur Hannaford as a small produce store along the Portland, Maine waterfront.[7]

In 1902 Arthur Hannaford's brothers, Howard and Edward, joined the business and together they incorporated Hannaford Bros. Co. By 1920 the company became a leading produce wholesaler in northern New England. Hannaford then relocated to a new five-story warehouse on Cross Street. In 1939, with the purchase of Tondreau Supermarkets Inc., sponsor of Red & White stores in Maine, Hannaford expanded into the wholesale grocery business. Late in 1944, Hannaford Co. opened its first retail outlet under an equity partnership arrangement with AdjutorTondreau.[7]

By 1960 Hannaford Bros. had constructed a 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m2) distribution center in South Portland to better service more retail stores. With the purchase of 31 Sampson's grocery stores in 1966 as well as the 1967 purchase of Progressive Distributors, Hannaford expanded its retail presence. By 1971, the company's earnings topped $1 million.[7]

Hannaford continued to rapidly expand throughout the 1970s and 1980s by opening a chain of Wellby Drug Stores, many of which were incorporated into Shop 'N' Save retail stores. By 1987 the company had spread into New York andMassachusetts; that same year sales hit $1 billion.

In the 1990s Hannaford began an expansion into the Southeast by purchasing a small Southeastern North Carolinasupermarket chain, Wilson's Supermarkets, which served as the foundation of an expansion of Hannaford stores into the Carolinas and Virginia. In 2000, Delhaize America bought Hannaford; the purchase both eliminated an emerging competitor to its Food Lion chain in the Southeast and expanded its operations into the Northeast.[7] However, the move ended up bringing an even bigger competitor into the market when national chain Kroger bought 20 of the redundant stores and moved into the market.

The Hannaford name first took over for Shop 'N' Save on private labels in 1996. Five years later, stores in the Portland, Maine, area assumed the name, with their counterparts in the rest of the state as well as New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Vermont. As of 2006, only a small number of locations continue to use the Shop 'n' Save banner. Independently owned and operated franchises receiving merchandise through Hannaford's wholesale distribution use the Shop 'n' Save name, mainly in smaller communities. In 2004, 19 Victory Supermarkets in Massachusetts and New Hampshire were purchased and converted to Hannaford stores.[7] Some Hannaford locations in North Carolina were sold to Lowes Foods upon the buyout by Delhaize America while others were closed.

In 2006 Hannaford Supermarkets launched Guiding Stars, the first storewide nutrition navigation program. The concept of Guiding Stars was born from extensive consumer research that revealed a desire to live healthier lifestyles, but showed confusion understanding the volume and complexity of the nutrition-related information available in the media, advertisements and on food packaging. The rankings are based on U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines.[8]

Hannaford Supermarkets are found in Maine (the largest number of its stores), New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New York. Areas outside Maine with a strong Hannaford presence include Manchester, New Hampshire; Burlington, Vermont; and Albany, New York.
Until 2011 the company regularly marketed numerous products under its own private labels — including products by Richelieu Foods.[9] The company now uses the Delhaize-standard Home 360 brand.[10]

Criticism
The company faced a lawsuit for discriminating against the handicapped. In 1999, employees of the store in Gardiner, Maine, mistook a man with a disability for being drunk, refusing him the sale of alcohol. The court found that Hannaford's policy of not allowing management to countermand the initial decision of the sales clerk, even in the light of credible evidence of disability, was a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the company was ordered to pay damages.[11]

On March 17, 2008, The Boston Globe reported that the company's credit-card processing servers had been compromised for three months.[12] Some 4.2 million credit card numbers were stolen, at least 1,800 of which had been used fraudulently. In August 2009, criminal computer hacker Albert Gonzalez was indicted for the crime.[13]

References
1. ^ Delhaize Group Annual Report 2010
2. ^ http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/beth-newlands-campbell-named-president-of-hannaford-83297427.html
3. ^ "Contacts." Delhaize Group. Retrieved on May 17, 2012. "HANNAFORD 145 Pleasant Hill Road Scarborough – ME 04074 - U.S.A. "
4. ^ Delhaize Group
5. ^ Sweetbay FAQ
6. ^ MaineBiz List of Private Employers
7. ^ a b c d e f "Making history at Hannaford". Hannaford Bros. Co.
8. ^ Chain uses stars to rate food for nutrition MSNBC.com. September 7, 2006
9. ^ "There's new appetite for peddlers of cheap eats". Boston Business Journal, February 23, 2009, Lisa van der Pool. February 23, 2009.
10. ^ Hannaford Heads to Home 360
11. ^ Disability Rights Center of Maine
12. ^ Grocer Hannaford hit by computer breach
13. ^ Hacker Charged With Heartland, Hannaford Breaches - wired.com - August 17, 2009