Hills Supermarkets Explained

Hills Supermarkets, owned by H. Frederick Hill, was a New York based grocery store chain which was popular in the 1960s.^[1] In May 1977 it was sold as a subdivision of Pueblo International Inc., to Pantry Pride.

Growth

In March 1955 Hills Supermarkets leased 12000square feet in the Pine Oaks Shopping Center at Boundary Avenue in North Massapequa, New York.^[2] The following month Hills signed a fifteen-year lease for a store to be located at the Hub Shopping Center, approximately one mile north of Amityville, New York.^[3]

In October 1961 Hills operated 23 stores with plans to open 7 more and expand an 8th within the next twelve months. Each planned store was to be 22000square feet except for one. The exception was a store in the Walt Whitman Shopping Center in Huntington, New York, which measured 29,000 square feet.^[4]

By December 1972, the Hills chain had 75 locations.^[5]

Demise of store chain

In the two years prior to November 1976, Pablo International, Inc., had closed 29 Hills stores as well as a distribution center in Brentwood, New York.^{[6] [7]} The indebted 43 units of Hills Supermarkets sold for a sum of approximately $7 million in 1977,^[8] to Food Fair. Food Fair filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 1978, and 42 Hills locations were closed shortly thereafter.^[9] In 1979, at the height of the roller disco era the Hills located at 1276 Hicksville Rd, Seaford, NY 11783 became a United Skates of America and is still in operation.^[10]

Notes and References

1. First National Stores Taps French to Follow O'Keefe As Chairman, Wall Street Journal, May 22, 1972, pg. 24.
2. Supermarkets Leased, New York Times, March 20, 1955, pg. R8.
3. Store Site Is Sold Near Amityville, New York Times, April 10, 1955, pg. R1.
4. Hill's Supermarket Expansion, Wall Street Journal, October 17, 1961, pg. 32.
5. News: Hills Adding L.I. Markets . . December 19, 1972 . November 4, 2009. ("...will open five supermarkets on Long Island today. Including the store opened last week in Newburgh, N.Y., the latest openings bring the total number of stores in the Hill chain to 75.")
6. Pueblo Sets Reserves Of About $14.1 Million For Its Store Closings, Wall Street Journal, November 29, 1976, pg. 17.
7. News: Hills to Shut Down Eight Supermarkets. . November 30, 1976 . November 4, 2009. (reporting that eight more stores would close next Saturday, including five in Suffolk and one in Nassau, including Northport, Commack, West Babylon, Hauppauge, East Setauket, Plainedge (Bronx), and Yonkers)
8. Pueblo International Says Food Fair Buys Supermarket Division, Wall Street Journal, May 10, 1977, pg. 20.
9. News: Food Fair Cites Daily Losses; Officers Resign . . November 15, 1978 . November 4, 2009 . Isadore . Barmash. ("Since its bankruptcy petition, the company has closed 42 Hills Supermarkets...")
10. News: The Undoing of L.I. Shopping Centers. . April 1, 1979 . September 6, 2023.