PUEBLO SUPERMARKETS

'Pueblo' has been one of Puerto Rico's major supermarket chains since the 1950s.
The brainchild of brothers Harold Toppel and George Toppel, Pueblo began as a single store operation on Roosevelt Avenue in the Puerto Nuevo section of San Juan, Puerto Rico. The wide success of the first store led the Toppels to open 43 other Pueblo Supermarkets around the Island and, by 1960, to convert the enterprise into a public corporation that began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
1963 saw Pueblo expand beyond Puerto Rico's shores to another U.S. territory. Pueblo opened stores in St. Thomas and St. Croix, quickly becoming a popular supermarket chain with the people of those two members of the United States Virgin Islands.
Pueblo introduced the trademark ''Pueblo Foods,'' which included anything from paper towels to rice and was sold in all Pueblo stores. It wasn't uncommon to see someone come out of a Pueblo supermarket with a few cans of Pueblo tomato sauce or Pueblo olives in their shopping carts. In addition, Pueblo sold such top brands as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Arroz Sello Rojo, Bacardi, Charmin', Ball Park Franks, Eveready, Dannon, Casera sauce, Frito-Lay, and many others.
In 1983, Pueblo launched the ''Pueblo Xtra'' concept, a discount warehouse type supermarket which allowed the customer to shop for food in a larger store featuring lower prices. In 1990, Pueblo introduced Blockbuster Video to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
In 2003, Pueblo faced financial troubles and there were rumors of a potential buyer from Venezuela. Despite this, Pueblo's management remained optimistic about the company's future.
In 2007, Pueblo appeared to be facing serious financial difficulties again, as many locations were closed. Some were taken over by Econo Supermarkets and the entire chain is expected to cease operations in September 2007.
This is a list of the locations bought by Econo Supermarkets:
Isla Verde-
Los Colobos-
Plaza Las Americas-
Plaza Carolina-
Rio Hondo-
Other locations have been bought by Grande Supermarkets and Supermercados COOP like the one that used to be Pueblo in Isabela, at Plaza Isabela.
This was the biggest supermarket in Puerto Rico, and had a large varieties of products, including their own trade mark (Food Club), like the spring water that was made by Agua El Manantial.

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External links

External links

★ Pueblo Xtra - official site.