Hinky Dinky and Supermarkets Interstate

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jleyerle
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Joined: 28 Nov 2020 22:09

Hinky Dinky and Supermarkets Interstate

Post by jleyerle »

I hopped down a rabbit hole and found something interesting--apparently Hinky Dinky (chain from Omaha) has their employee newsletters digitized. I'm intrigued by one aspect of their business--they figured out in the 1960s how to expand by leasing the food store operations for discount stores which were then expanding quickly. They apparently had figured out a financial way to operate those stores in a pretty stand-alone manner. They were extremely patchy (I saw El Paso, TX, Louisville, KY and San Juan, PR as some of the 1960s markets where they operated) but were successful enough to handle the food operations for JCPenney as they expanded Treasure Island in Atlanta and Milwaukee. Wondered if anyone had run across these operations--would be curious just how far they expanded.
pseudo3d
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Re: Hinky Dinky and Supermarkets Interstate

Post by pseudo3d »

jleyerle wrote: 29 Nov 2020 01:24 I hopped down a rabbit hole and found something interesting--apparently Hinky Dinky (chain from Omaha) has their employee newsletters digitized. I'm intrigued by one aspect of their business--they figured out in the 1960s how to expand by leasing the food store operations for discount stores which were then expanding quickly. They apparently had figured out a financial way to operate those stores in a pretty stand-alone manner. They were extremely patchy (I saw El Paso, TX, Louisville, KY and San Juan, PR as some of the 1960s markets where they operated) but were successful enough to handle the food operations for JCPenney as they expanded Treasure Island in Atlanta and Milwaukee. Wondered if anyone had run across these operations--would be curious just how far they expanded.
From what I gathered, Hinky Dinky was not in great shape by the late 1960s. In 1969, JCPenney outright bought Supermarkets Interstate from Hinky Dinky, with the chain itself being bought by Cullum Cos. out of Dallas in 1972 until they sold the stores in the mid-1980s.
jleyerle
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Re: Hinky Dinky and Supermarkets Interstate

Post by jleyerle »

And to close the loop, here is how they were presented to the Atlanta, GA housewife.

https://dekalbhistory.org/blog-posts/tr ... tury-roof/
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