Four Square is a chain of supermarkets in New Zealand that was founded by John Heaton Barker.[1] It has 230 stores throughout New Zealand, mostly in small towns.[2] Some Four Square supermarkets previously operated in Australia under the name Friendly Grocer.
Four Square emerged as a household name in the 1920s out of the Foodstuffs grocery buying co-operative, whose founder, John Heaton Barker, became concerned at the manner in which the activities of the grocery chain stores of the day were making life difficult for independent grocers in Auckland. On 6 July 1922, Heaton Barker called together members of the Auckland Master Grocers Association and discussed their plans for forming a cooperative buying group of independent grocers. On 1 April 1925, this buying group registered a company called Foodstuffs Ltd, which was the first of three regional cooperatives based in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.[3]
The name Four Square emerged when Heaton Barker, while talking on the telephone to one of the buying group members on 4 July 1924, drew a square around the 4 of the date on his calendar. He considered this to be a suitable name for the buying group, stating that "they would stand ’Four Square’ to all the winds that blew".[4]
By the end of 1924 products were appearing under the Four Square name, and by 1929 discussions were underway on the use of a common branding on stores. Early versions of the Four Square sign were produced in the form of red and gold hand painted glass panels for display in members’ stores. The "Mr 4 Square" symbol, also known as "Cheeky Charlie",[5] was developed in the 1950s. The image is associated with the art of New Zealand artist Dick Frizzell, who has used the iconic character in many of his works.
In February 1948, in Onehunga, Phil Barker (the son of the founder of the group) and Ray McGregor opened Four Square's – and the country's – first self-service grocery store (where shoppers take groceries off the shelf, rather than an attendant doing it for them), and this format soon became the norm for grocery retailing in New Zealand.[citation needed]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Four Square supermarkets.
Four Square website
August 25, 2023
four, square, supermarket, four, square, chain, supermarkets, zealand, that, founded, john, heaton, barker, stores, throughout, zealand, mostly, small, towns, some, four, square, supermarkets, previously, operated, australia, under, name, friendly, grocer, fou. Four Square is a chain of supermarkets in New Zealand that was founded by John Heaton Barker 1 It has 230 stores throughout New Zealand mostly in small towns 2 Some Four Square supermarkets previously operated in Australia under the name Friendly Grocer Four SquareFour Square supermarket in KatikatiTypeSubsidiaryFounded1924 99 years ago 1924 HeadquartersAuckland New ZealandNumber of locations224ParentFoodstuffsWebsitefoursquare wbr co wbr nz Contents 1 History 2 Stores 3 References 4 External linksHistory EditFour Square emerged as a household name in the 1920s out of the Foodstuffs grocery buying co operative whose founder John Heaton Barker became concerned at the manner in which the activities of the grocery chain stores of the day were making life difficult for independent grocers in Auckland On 6 July 1922 Heaton Barker called together members of the Auckland Master Grocers Association and discussed their plans for forming a cooperative buying group of independent grocers On 1 April 1925 this buying group registered a company called Foodstuffs Ltd which was the first of three regional cooperatives based in Auckland Wellington and Christchurch 3 The name Four Square emerged when Heaton Barker while talking on the telephone to one of the buying group members on 4 July 1924 drew a square around the 4 of the date on his calendar He considered this to be a suitable name for the buying group stating that they would stand Four Square to all the winds that blew 4 By the end of 1924 products were appearing under the Four Square name and by 1929 discussions were underway on the use of a common branding on stores Early versions of the Four Square sign were produced in the form of red and gold hand painted glass panels for display in members stores The Mr 4 Square symbol also known as Cheeky Charlie 5 was developed in the 1950s The image is associated with the art of New Zealand artist Dick Frizzell who has used the iconic character in many of his works In February 1948 in Onehunga Phil Barker the son of the founder of the group and Ray McGregor opened Four Square s and the country s first self service grocery store where shoppers take groceries off the shelf rather than an attendant doing it for them and this format soon became the norm for grocery retailing in New Zealand citation needed Stores EditThere are 164 Four Square stores on the North Island including 23 in Northland 21 in Auckland six on the Coromandel Peninsula 18 in the rest of the Waikato Region 20 in Bay of Plenty 5 in the Gisborne District 15 in the Hawke s Bay Region 15 in Taranaki 20 in Manawatu Whanganui and 19 in the Wellington Region 2 There are 60 Four Square stores on the South Island and Stewart Island including six in Nelson and Tasman three in Marlborough four on the West Coast 16 in Canterbury 18 in Otago and 12 in Southland 2 References Edit Milton Tee Ann Harry Heaton Barker Dictionary of New Zealand Biography Ministry for Culture and Heritage Retrieved 31 December 2011 a b c Four Square foursquare co nz Foodstuffs Four Square About Retrieved 26 March 2015 Mr Four Square a kiwiana nostalgia trip Retrieved 2 March 2010 Cheeky Charlie Retrieved 21 June 2017 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Four Square supermarkets Four Square website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Four Square supermarket amp oldid 1169042590, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
