Houchens Industries Inc.

Parent company Houchens Industries operates the Houchens Food Group, which includes 41 convenience and small-format convenience/grocery hybrid stores as of the end of 2019. Of those, 23 are convenience stores and 18 are hybrids called Crossroads IGA. Another Crossroads IGA store was opened in January 2020. Over the past couple of years, Houchens has focused on the small format hybrid stores, says Greg Rush, which have been very successful for Houchens. The stores include fuel, a deli and sub shop, groceries, and convenience items. One of the newest stores in Evansville, Ind., includes a grab-and-go section near the front of the store with fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, a kiosk with hot rotisseries chickens, and single-serve hot entrees. Coolers hold packaged deli items such as wraps, sandwiches and salads. A small produce section and fresh meats also are available, as is a Which Wich sub shop.

Crossroads IGA also maintains an active Facebook page. Houchens is a diverse company with 18,000 employees corporate-wide. It operates 24 individual companies and nine franchises, including retail grocery stores across 16 states. It is listed by Forbes as one of the largest 100% employee-owned companies in the world. Houchens has been in business 103 years and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2017.

For benchmarking purposes, store counts are year-end 2019.