Stouffer's - History

History

The Stouffer family business traces its roots to 1914 when Abraham E. Stouffer and his father started the Medina County Creamery in Medina County, Ohio and, also, a dairy stand at Cleveland's Sheriff Street Market. In 1916, Abraham and wife Lena moved to the Cleveland suburb of Lakewood, Ohio to manage the creamery business and, in 1922, Abraham resigned as president of the creamery to manage one of the company's dairy stands located on the lower floor of the Cleveland Arcade. The Stouffers converted the operation into a restaurant which served buttermilk, sandwiches, and Lena Stouffer's homemade dutch apple pie (credited by some as the reason for the almost instant success of the restaurant). They opened an additional restaurant on East Ninth Street in the city, called the Stouffer Lunch, and incorporated the business as Stouffer Lunch System in 1924. As time went on, the couple continued the program of expansion with the assistance of their sons Vernon, a graduate of the Wharton School of Finance, and Gordon who, together, led the reorganization of the business, taking it public as the Stouffer Corporation in 1929 with Abraham as chairman of the board.

The year 1929 also marked the beginning of the company's effort to establish locations outside of Ohio with the opening of a restaurant in Detroit, Michigan and one in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After Abraham's death in 1936 the company continued its program of expansion by opening its first restaurant in New York City and eventually began a program of diversification, entering the frozen food business in 1946.. In 1960 the company, formally renamed Stouffer Foods Corporation in 1956, purchased its first hotel, the Anacapri Inn of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and, by the end of that year, the company was composed of three divisions: Stouffer Foods Corporation, Stouffer Hotels Corporation, and Stouffer Restaurants Corporation.