In 1891, Frederick Wilhelm Albrecht, 30, left Massillon for Akron to begin his dream of owning a chain of grocery stores.
He started his first Acme No. 1 at the corners of Buchtel, Sumner and Center streets in what is now the heart of the University of Akron campus.
This month, the family of F.W., known to most simply as “The Mister,” celebrates 125 years in business with its Acme Fresh Markets. The family-owned business now boasts 16 stores in four counties and more than 2,200 employees.
The family has four members of its fifth generation actively involved in the business.
“We accept the responsibility of what our predecessors have done to keep driving the company forward,” said Jim Trout, a 42-year veteran of Acme who was named in 2014 as the first non-Albrecht family member to be CEO of the company. Trout, 58, started as a packer at the Acme Ellet store 42 years ago.
“Our values haven’t changed. We feed families,” he said, while sitting in the cafe of the Acme No. 1, which is undergoing a $9 million renovation that will be complete next month.
There are only a handful of grocers in Ohio that are as old as Acme and reaching 125 years is “certainly something to be proud of,” said Kristin Mullins, president and CEO of the Ohio Grocers Association. “To get to 125 and keep it in the family, it’s an accomplishment and a testament to how good the Albrechts are.”
With each generation, it becomes more difficult to survive, she said. Good succession planning is important, she said.
Research shows only about 3 percent of family-run companies will make it to the fourth generation and as few as 1 percent will reach the fifth.
Acme has survived for 125 years because of the Albrecht family’s commitment to the community, Trout said.
“We are local,” he said.
Acme sponsors several key area events, including the Akron Zoo’s Boo at the Zoo and the Akron Half Marathon. The family’s F.W. Albrecht Family Foundation also has 997 nonprofit groups participating in its Community Cash Back Program, which rebates money based on receipts.
Employees also are key, Trout said. The longest-serving employees are several produce managers in the chain. Collectively, they have an average of 40 years of service.
Family ties
The four adult children of Acme Chairman Steve Albrecht and his wife, Sophie, all work in the family businesses. Nick Albrecht, the oldest, is executive vice president, the No. 2 spot to Trout. Joe Albrecht is vice president of retail properties for Albrecht Inc., a real-estate development company in which the Albrecht family is a majority owner. Katie is director of marketing for Acme. Jon is director of center store sales.
Nick Albrecht, 39, said his parents never pressured any of their children to have careers at Acme.
In fact, while Albrecht would watch his grandfather and father at the stores, he wouldn’t become an employee until 11 years ago, starting on the night crew. Trout was his first mentor.
The best thing Trout did for him, Albrecht said, was move him to the Bailey Road store during its remodel. There, Albrecht, a law school graduate and five-year veteran of the U.S. Army who served in Iraq, stocked shelves.
Learning all of the different parts of the business and working with his siblings is a pleasure, he said.
“I am engaged in this business. My grandfather said, ‘Do something with your life.’ Running this grocery business is doing that,” he said.
When asked about succession planning for the next generation, Trout said: “Nick is in charge of sales and marketing and extremely close to the business and works hard in driving sales and profitability. He has progressed [through the company] as a lot of our nearly 2,200 associates do. We do a lot of promotion from within.”
Staying competitive
As grocery store competition has stiffened — Whole Foods’ first foray into Akron will be a few blocks from Acme No. 1 in West Akron — and the grocery channel has expanded to convenience stores and discount retailers, Acme has changed to remain competitive, Trout said.
“We change this business according to what our customers want,” he said. Lately, that means a bigger emphasis on prepared foods and natural and organic foods.
Acme has to earn its customers, he said.
“Local means nothing unless you’re equal or better than the others,” he said. “To sit back and rest on our laurels of local is not sustainable.
“There’s only so much market share. We’re all fighting for a piece of the pie that’s getting smaller.”
Acme has its longtime fans.
Julie Clark Battistuta said her family has had a long history with Acme.
Battistuta has been going to the Norton store her entire married life.
“[For] 28 years before that, my mother shopped there since moving to Norton when I was in ninth grade,” she said. “When I was a child, mom worked at Jimbo’s inside the East Avenue location and that was our store. Mom still lives and shops in Norton.”
To remain competitive, the company also invested $28.5 million in the last three years for projects that include remodeling its State Road store in Cuyahoga Falls, building its first new store in 20 years in Green and renovating Acme No. 1 on West Market Street in West Akron.
Opening a store in Green was a priority, as was renovating Acme No. 1, Trout said.
In the last five years, 15 out of its 16 stores have been remodeled. Trout said the Norton store is next up.
Looking to its future, Trout said the grocer wants to build its first new store in Medina County, likely in 2018. The company has owned land at the corner of state Route 3 and Highpoint Drive since 2006 and over the years officials have set proposed dates for the store.
Development has been “bubbling up around us,” Trout said of the location. “We are waiting for the right time.”
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty.