National Supermarkets was the second largest grocery chain in both the St. Louis, Missouri and New Orleans, Louisiana areas of the United States. Both firms were owned by Loblaw Companies of Canada, but in June 1995, they were sold by Loblaw to Schnucks Markets. Immediately after that, per the FTC, Schnucks sold the National New Orleans division to Schwegmann Giant Super Markets of Metairie, Louisiana, which later sold them to Great A&P, which finally sold them to Rouse Markets in 2007. National itself had cemented the number two spot in St. Louis by acquiring several former Kroger locations and the Kroger distribution center in the market when the latter exited St. Louis in 1986. Kroger and National had been battling for the number two and three spots since the 1970s, swapping rankings several times over throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
New Orleans and St. Louis represented the last two divisions of National Supermarkets, aka National Tea, which originated in Chicago in 1899, making the chain one of the oldest in the USA. It was also one of the largest, ranking as the fifth largest in the late 1960s, only A&P, Safeway, Kroger, and Food Fair were larger. Loblaw bought the company in 1955. Among the chains National acquired were Miller's (Mobile, AL), Standard (Indianapolis), and Applebaum's (Minneapolis). Besides the National and Standard banners, Big D and Del Farm banners were used in the Midwest.
Former divisions existed in Denver, Sioux Falls, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, the Quad Cities, Indianapolis, Chicago, Youngstown, Memphis, and Nashville, making the chain the largest serving the Mississippi Valley. Major rivals included Jewel, Red Owl, Bettendorf-Rapp(Allied), Kroger, A&P, Dominick's, Eagle Food Centers, Hy-Vee, Marsh's, Winn-Dixie, Hill's, Fisher/Fazio's/Costa, Thorofare, and Safeway, depending on the market.
National's logo was Loblaw's logo turned upside down to look like an "n" instead of an "L".
Read more about National Supermarkets: Slogans, Failed Resurrection, National Supermarket Murders, National Supermarkets - New Orleans Division
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—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)