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Associated Food Stores, Inc., headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a cooperatively owned wholesale distributor to almost 600 independently owned supermarkets in an eight state region. Since its organization in 1940, Associated Food Stores has not only delivered groceries to independent grocers, but has also helped them battle national chains and razor-thin profits. With the assistance of Associated, most of these independent retailers have become exceptional supermarkets turning in respectable profits. Industry headlines today read in much the same fashion as they did 60 years ago. Large chain stores were forcing the small independent grocers out of business. The stores that weren't bought up by the chains were coerced to buy groceries from suppliers at a more expensive cost because they didn't have the buying power of the chains. The big chains illegally compelled the suppliers to sell at a higher price to the independent operators by threatening to pull their business if the suppliers didn't comply. As a result, the independent stores had inadequate and unreliable sources of supply and no one to defend their cause. Early in 1940, Donald P. Lloyd, who was president of the Utah Retail Grocers Association, predicted impending doom for the independent retailers unless they could unite to take on the competition and increase their collective buying power. He persuaded 34 retailers to contribute $300 each to help organize an independent warehouse, and Associated Food Stores was born. One by one the problems of unfair and illegal trade practices, under capitalization and competitive conspiracy were surmounted. Today, Associated Food Stores champions the cause of independent supermarket owners and is the only independent wholesale distributor headquartered in the Intermountain West, employing over 1,400 people and shipping over 750 truckloads of groceries each week.