12. ARTIFACTS

COLLECTION OVERVIEW

The archives of the Bildner family and Kings Super Markets contains a record of the evolution of a small, family-owned and operated grocery store on Long Island to a well-respected chain of stores in northern New Jersey, and finally, to a line of specialty foods and grocery stores owned and run by one of the largest retailers in England. The records provide the reader insights into the family members who started and nurtured the business into an industry leader before turning it over to a successful international company. The letters, memoranda, studies and reports, and other documents show how the transition, during and after the sale of Kings, unfolded, and how the company's image changed in the eyes of its customers.(1)

The letters, memos, advertising and speeches reflect the philosophies of the Bildner family and other people who shaped the course of Kings Super Markets.(2) Information in the collection chronicles the expansion of Kings' geographic locations, as stores opened up in northern New Jersey as the demand for them grew.(3) The collection contains information about Kings' leadership as it passed from the four Bildner brothers, Ben, Moe, Joe and David, to three after a falling out with Ben, to Joe's son Allen, and finally, to Marks & Spencer. It documents the changes in the name and slogans of the business, and also shows that the basic values held by Kings management, giving the customer the best quality with the best service, remained steadfast.(4)

"BIG BEN BILDNER BROTHERS"

The Kings story begins in 1936, when four brothers, who were already working in the grocery business, got together and opened the first super market on Long Island, known as Big Ben Bildner Brothers. Beatrice Bildner, the new wife of Joseph Bildner, also joined in the family effort and went to work in the store beside her husband and brothers-in-law. "We worked very hard, put in long hours and were the outstanding super markets in Long Island," recalled Beatrice in a speech she gave in 1982. "As a matter of fact, it was virgin territory and Bildner Brothers and King Kullen were the only super markets in the area at that time."(5)

After a dispute with Ben, the rest of the Bildners, Joe and Beatrice, Moe and David left Bildner Brothers and started their own business in New Jersey. The first store, named Kings, was in Summit, New Jersey. The slogan was "Where Mr. Joe Saves You Dough" and the premise was simply to treat customers as kings. What made Kings innovative was the realization that total control of the stores and their goods would remain in the hands of the Bildners only if they ran their own specialty departments instead of relying on outside vendors for these items. The Bildner Brothers eventually stopped using the meat and produce concessions on Long Island, and ran their own. The Summit, New Jersey store soon turned into four and Kings hired its first accountant.

The heart of the business, however, remained in the Bildners themselves. Their firm commitment to Kings remained strong into the family's second generation. Joe and Beatrice's son, Allen, packed groceries after school, and later started his own career in the super market business, which would one day lead him to become President of Kings Super Markets, and one of the most successful men in the industry.

ALLEN BILDNER AND KINGS SUPER MARKETS

It was evident that Allen Bildner was meant to be a grocery executive even when he was in college; the archives holds a paper he wrote on the super market industry in 1947. (6) He applied himself in the family company, worked for his father and learned the various aspects of running a super market. The younger Bildner was serious about advancing his career; memos from Allen to his father discuss the path he wanted his training to follow, and by 1950 he wrote an argument for creating a job for himself as assistant to the President. He also wrote memos to his father, which analyzed problems facing the business, and his suggestions for solving them. (7)

In 1958, Allen Bildner became president of Kings Super Markets after his father retired. He continued to expand the business by opening more stores in New Jersey. The archives includes documentation of this expansion in the site surveys and demographics studies that Kings conducted through consultants.(8) He showed a real interest in the suggestions made by customers, and commissioned several consumer panels, and in-store and telephone surveys to find out what his customers wanted. Also active in the industry, Mr. Bildner became a member of the Food Marketing Institute and later was named Chairman of the Board of Directors in 1987. His interest and activities in the Food Marketing Institute are documented in the many publications, studies, and surveys conducted by the organization. (9)

By the mid-1980s, Allen Bildner had built a very successful chain of seventeen super markets.(10) However, he saw an opportunity to let Kings grow even further under the ownership of another, international owner. That vision led to the sale of Kings to a leading British retailer, Marks & Spencer.(11)

MARKS & SPENCER ACQUISITION

While Kings Super Markets was not sold to Marks & Spencer until 1988, evidence shows that the two companies were interested in each other as early as 1984. That year, management at Kings became interested in learning the successful quality control and operations systems that were in place at Marks & Spencer. Allen Bildner met with representatives from Marks & Spencer and thus began what would turn out to be a fruitful relationship between the two companies.(12)

Allen Bildner continued at the helm of Kings for a few more years as Marks & Spencer asked him to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Kings. Close to the time of the sale of Kings, Marks & Spencer had bought Brooks Brothers, a clothing store based in the U.S. Allen Bildner's expertise was needed to make the management transition at Kings go smoothly as Marks & Spencer became involved with super markets and other businesses in the United States. Press coverage documents the transition, and customer correspondence reflects how they felt about the new ownership of their grocery store. (13)

(1) SEE Record Group 1, Correspondence and Subject Files for the papers of Joseph Bildner and Allen Bildner. ALSO SEE Record Group 8, Marks & Spencer. (2) SEE Record Group 1, Correspondence and Subject Files for letters and memos written by Allen Bildner and his associates; and Record Group 1, Speeches and Writings for the speeches of Beatrice Bildner and Allen Bildner. The advertisements are in Record Group 5, Marketing and Sales. (3) SEE Record Group 7, Studies and Research Reports for files on demographics and new site survey reports. (4) SEE Record Group 1, Speeches and Writings, for references to the slogans and name changes in the speeches of Beatrice Bildner. ALSO SEE, Record Group 5, Marketing and Sales, Advertisements. (5) SEE Record Group 1, Speeches and Writings, Remarks of Beatrice Bildner Becker at the Kings Service Awards Dinner, January 31, 1982. (6) SEE Record Group 1, Correspondence and Subject Files of Allen Bildner for "The Super Market Industry: A Study of its Characteristics from its Birth to the Present," dated May 30, 1947. Willis M. Partridge, Jr. co-authored this thesis, which was presented to the faculty of the Amos Tuck School of Administration and Finance. (7) SEE Record Group 1, Correspondence and Subject Files of Allen Bildner for his memos to his father, 1948-1951. (8) SEE Record Group 7, Studies and Research Reports. (9) SEE Record Group 1, Correspondence and Subject Files of Allen Bildner, Professional Activities and Organizations. (10) Photographs of some of the store grand openings and grand re-openings from 1951 to 1988 are in Record Group 10, Photographs, Events—Store Openings. (11) SEE Record Group 1, Correspondence and Subject Files 1987-1988 for Allen Bildner correspondence with Marks & Spencer and other information related to the sales of Kings to Marks & Spencer. The closing documents for the sale (August 26, 1988) and the Kings Super Markets files after the sale are in Record Group 8, Marks & Spencer. (12) SEE Record Group 1, Correspondence and Subject Files of Allen Bildner, 1984. (13) For press coverage, SEE Record Group 11; for consumer correspondence, SEE Record Group 5, Consumer Relations.