Our Company History
Sullivan's Foods is a family owned and operated grocery retail business that was started in 1967 by John & June Sullivan. John Sullivan married June in 1959 and then went off to serve in the United States Army. While serving in the army he took a part-time job as a meat cutter. After his military service, John and June returned for a short time to John's hometown, Stockton, Illinois where he became a full-time meat cutter. Then they moved to Platteville, Wisconsin, where John worked for another grocery store.
During his seven years in Platteville he learned more of the meat cutting trade and other valuable tools for success. Most significant was how important it is to be fair to your employees, vendors, and customers. In September of 1967 John and June moved to Savanna, Illinois where they decided to purchase their own grocery store. For a short time in the beginning he had a partner and eventually ended up buying his share out and then built a new store - tearing down the older structure to make room for a larger parking lot. The Savanna location became a success so in 1973 they expanded their business with an additional store located in John's hometown, Stockton, Illinois. Keeping up with the ever growing market, John and June ventured out in 1978 and purchased two more locations, then in 1980 they increased their stores again with the purchase of another two locations. They now own and operate 11 locations in Northern and Central Illinois.
Recently Sullivan's selected Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) as their leading warehouse. They believe that the affiliation with this warehouse gives them a competitive advantage, as it is a progressive distribution company that allows purchase of a wide variety of foods at low prices that is passed on to customers. AWG also offers terrific private label brands, Best Choice and Always Save, for even more savings.
In addition to building his successful grocery chain, John and June were also raising six children Kathryn, Scott, Bryan, Susan, Mike, and Julie; all of whom followed in Dad and Moms' footsteps and are a part of the company. Each of them started off either as a cashier, meat cutter, or stocker and now help run the company. Today, John is still the CEO, Scott Sullivan is the President, Kathryn Christensen is the Vice President of Human Resources, Bryan Sullivan is the Vice President of Advertising, Susan Sullivan-Dauphin is the Property manager, Mike Sullivan is Vice President of IT, and Julie Sullivan-Mensendike is General Merchandise Manager as well as being a teacher.
