The story
Origins (1928–1939)
Brookshire Grocery Company traces its origins to September 1, 1928, when founder Wood T. Brookshire opened a 2,500‑square‑foot grocery store on the courthouse square in downtown Tyler, Texas. At the time, Wood T. Brookshire was part of the larger Brookshire Brothers organization, founded in 1921 in Lufkin, Texas, by brothers Austin and Tom Brookshire.
In 1929, Wood T. Brookshire and his cousin W.A. Brookshire withdrew from Brookshire Brothers, taking several Tyler‑area stores with them. Brookshire Brothers’ official history identifies this withdrawal as the beginning of what would become Brookshire Grocery Company.
The corporate entity “Brookshire Grocery Company” was formally incorporated in 1939, as noted by the Texas State Historical Association.
Expansion and Distribution Growth (1940s–1960s)
During the 1940s, Brookshire Grocery Company expanded into neighboring communities and opened its first shopping‑center location. The company opened its first warehouse facility in Tyler in 1953.
In the 1960s, the company expanded into Louisiana and constructed a 175,000‑square‑foot (16,300 m2) distribution center in Tyler to support its growing store base.
New Formats and Regional Growth (1970s–1990s)
Brookshire Grocery Company continued to expand throughout Texas and Louisiana during the 1970s and 1980s. In 1984, the company opened the first Super 1 Foods store in Alexandria, Louisiana. The format initially operated as a no‑frills, warehouse‑style concept, with early stores often located in repurposed buildings to cut down on costs.
As the format grew, Brookshire Grocery Company began constructing purpose‑built Super 1 Foods stores. In several cases, including Store #608 in Shreveport and Store #612 in Longview, existing Brookshire's locations were closed and demolished to make way for new Super 1 Foods stores. In Marshall and Longview, existing Brookshire's stores were converted to the Super 1 Foods format.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the company opened several Super 1 Foods stores in the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. Brookshire Grocery Company later sold all of its DFW‑area Super 1 Foods stores to the now‑defunct Fleming Companies, which rebranded them as Rainbow Foods. All Rainbow Foods locations closed following Fleming's bankruptcy.
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Format Development and Modernization (2000s–2010s)
On March 10, 2011, Brookshire Grocery Company opened the first FRESH by Brookshire's store in Tyler, Texas, featuring expanded foodservice departments and a broader selection of natural and organic products. The company launched the annual FRESH 15 road race in 2014.
In 2012, a new‑format Super 1 Foods store opened in Carencro, Louisiana, featuring an updated floorplan and décor package that was later adopted across additional locations. A similar store was built to replace #610 in Tyler, TX.
Brookshire's and Super 1 Foods also hosted the Heroes Run, a half marathon, 5K, and Kids 1K event held in Shreveport, Louisiana. In 2016, the event drew approximately 1,500 participants and raised $40,000 for local first responders and military charities. Brookshires indefinitely terminated Hero's Run in 2024 due to costs outpacing the money raised.
In June 2016, Brookshire Grocery Company purchased 25 former Wal‑Mart Express stores located in Texas (20 locations) and Louisiana. These locations were rebranded as Spring Market.
Acquisitions and New Concepts (2020s–2026)
In November 2021, Brookshire Grocery Company announced its acquisition of all 17 Reasor's locations in Oklahoma, with the transaction finalized in 2022.
On March 2, 2022, Brookshire Grocery Company opened its second FRESH by Brookshire's location in Fate, Texas.
The company later announced the conversion of two former Uptown Grocery locations in The Village and Edmond, Oklahoma, into FRESH by Reasor's stores. These locations temporarily closed on October 22, 2025, and reopened on October 27, 2025, marking the first time the FRESH concept operated outside Texas.
On November 12, 2025, Brookshire Grocery Company opened a 66,000‑square‑foot Fresh by Brookshire's store in Longview, Texas, the third, and largest Fresh location to date. This location features expanded amenities such as a sushi counter, taqueria bar, brick oven pizza, gelato station, artisan bakery, and an outdoor patio with a grill, bar, live music stage, and playground.
In late 2025, Brookshire Grocery Company converted two former Winn‑Dixie locations in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, into Super 1 Foods stores.
From Wikipedia’s article on Brookshire's, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4