History
White Hen Pantry was founded by Jewel Tea Company as Kwik Shoppe and began franchising in July, 1965, borrowing the idea from Texas-based 7-11 stores which were the first convenience stores. The first location was at 20 E. Golf Road in Des Plaines, IL. A few months later, it adopted the White Hen Pantry name, taken from Jewel's egg supplier, White Hen Egg Farms.
After American Stores purchased Jewel in 1984, White Hen Pantry was sold to its management team and became an independent company.
In 2001 it was sold to Clark Retail Enterprises, Inc., who immediately sold all 55 White Hen Pantry stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire to New England Pantry, Inc. This deal formed New England Pantry's current status as a sub-franchisor of the White Hen Pantry brand, and its exclusive franchisor in the New England area.
In 2005 and the first part of 2006 White Hen franchises underwent a series of ups and downs. In the third quarter of 2005 the company planned to increase its store count in the Chicago area by as much as 25 over the course of 2006. While still foreseeing eventual growth, however, the company changed its immediate plans and planned to sell 15 of its stores in 2006. One explanation for its revamped course of action stems from its push toward serving freshly prepared deli offerings to replace stagnating sales of tobacco and other traditional convenience store wares. In summer 2005, White Hen's push toward deli-fresh offerings was strong in Chicago, where it offered free samples of its private label Pantry Select chips at an August Chicago Cubs baseball game. Its new deli-fresh focus allegedly fails to meet the needs of some of the many demographics to which the store caters, and may be hedging the quick growth for which it had originally planned.
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