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Fred Meyer collection, 1922-2010

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Fred Meyer, Inc.
Title
Fred Meyer collection
Dates
1922-2010 (inclusive)
Quantity
38 cubic feet, (39 document cases, 27 flat boxes.)
Collection Number
Coll 199
Summary
Collection of photographs, advertisements, internal memos, employee newsletters and scrapbooks from Fred Meyer, Inc., headquartered in Portland, Oregon with stores throughout the Western United States.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the Fred Meyer company.
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Historical Note

The first Fred Meyer grocery store opened in downtown Portland, Oregon in 1922. The store's founder, Fred G. Meyer, opened more stores in downtown Portland in the 1920s and 1930s, then expanded into the outlying areas of Portland and beyond. By the 1990s there were stores bearing the Fred Meyer name throughout Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona and Alaska. In addition to the supermarket stores, Fred Meyer, Inc. also included jewelry stores, restaurants, federal savings and loan banks, print shops, bakeries, dairies and music stores.

Fred G. Meyer pioneered the concept of one-stop shopping, the idea that all household goods could be purchased at one store. At Fred Meyer stores, customers could buy groceries, clothing, auto supplies, furniture, appliances, hardware, garden supplies and more. Fred Meyer was also among the first to develop self-serve drug stores at a time when all pharmaceutical products had to be purchased through a pharmacist. Fred Meyer stores are also known for their advertising slogan, "My-Te-Fine," which was also the name of the in-house brand of packaged foods.

In the 1960s through the 1990s, Fred Meyer, Inc. expanded by acquiring many smaller grocery store chains throughout the West including Marketime and QFC in Washington, B&B Stores in Montana, Grand Central and Smith's Food and Drug in Utah, Valu-Mart in Alaska and Smitty's Marketplace in Arizona. In 1999, Fred Meyer, Inc. merged with Kroger, Inc., making the combined company the largest grocery store chain in the country.

Fred G. Meyer was born Frederick Grubmeyer in 1886 in Brooklyn, New York. He moved West in the 1900s starting in Alaska and eventually making his way to Portland, Oregon. He married Eva Chatfield Chiles who would become his business partner and the inspiration behind Eve's Restaurants which were coffee shops attached to many Fred Meyer stores. Fred G. Meyer died in 1978 at the age of 92. His will established a charitable trust to create a philanthropic organization now known as the Meyer Memorial Trust which is now one of the largest private foundations in the nation.

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Content Description

The collection includes materials from the stores' beginnings in 1922 and continuing through 2010. It includes materials from many Fred Meyer stores located throughout the Western United States, but the bulk of the materials originate from stores and facilities in Oregon. This collection concentrates on materials related to the stores and business of Fred Meyer, Inc. and not on the personal papers of Fred G. Meyer. There are nevertheless some personal materials of Fred G. Meyer as well as materials from many of the executives who worked at Fred Meyer, Inc.

Most of the collection consists of photographs taken in this 88 year time span. Subjects include: store opening celebrations; exteriors and interiors of the stores; company meetings and parties; merchandise displays; promotional events; portraits of management figures and product shots used in advertising. The photographs are dispersed throughout the collection. In addition to prints, the photography collection also includes slides, negatives, transparencies and hand-drawn art.

A sizable part of the collection also includes newspaper clippings of relevant news stories or print advertisements. Many of these clippings include the hand-written notes of Fred G. Meyer. Several large scrap books include an extensive collection of advertisements from the 1930s through the 1970s.

Annual reports were only published in those years when Fred Meyer, Inc. was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The collection of employee newsletters does have a few gaps, but is by and large a complete collection of the newsletters from 1949-2010.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any use of reproductions. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use of reproductions may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright holders.

Preferred Citation

Fred Meyer collection, Coll 199, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following series:

  • Series A: Corporate History
  • Series B: Individuals
  • Series C: Stores
  • Series D: Annual Reports
  • Series E: Employee Newsletters
  • Series F: Promotions and Advertisements
  • Series G: Negatives and Transparencies

Custodial History

Most materials in this collection were created by Fred Meyer, Inc. and its employees. The documents were assembled, arranged and stored at the Fred Meyer corporate headquarters in Portland, Oregon until 2010 when the materials and accompanying notes were donated to the Oregon Historical Society.

Acquisition Information

Acquired 2010, Library Accession 27171

Processing Note

To process this collection, OHS did the following: re-foldered items into acid-free archival folders; interleaved photographs with acid-free paper; removed over-sized items to larger boxes; re-sleeved negatives and slides into inert polyester sleeves; photocopied newspaper clippings onto acid-free paper; removed artifacts, and audio/visual materials; unbound scrapbooks and boxed them into acid-free boxes; re-arranged folders while maintaining the original categories of the Fred Meyer archivists.

Separated Materials

Film/video removed to the OHS Film Archive:

  • Fred G. Meyer interviewed by Gerry Pratt (DVD, 1975)
  • A Day in the Life – Fred Meyer promotional piece (DVD, circa 1980)
  • Convention Center Opening (DVD, 1993)
  • Bill Hemenway interview (DVD, 1993)
  • Oregonian of the Century (DVD, 1999)
  • Smiths/Fred Meyer Merger news on CNN (VHS, 1997)
  • Fred Meyer/Smitty's TV spot (VHS, 1999)
  • Smittys to Fred Meyer conversion, employee training tape (VHS, 1999)
  • Fred Meyer Marketplace Phoenix Coverage (multiple news station clips) 1/31/99(VHS)
  • Fred Meyer Marketplace Phoenix Coverage (multiple news station clips) 2/2/99 (VHS)
  • Smith’s and Smitty’s on KPNX 1/8/99 (VHS)
  • KSAZ News FM 2/8/99 (VHS)
  • Oran B. Robertson memorial at Lewis and Clark College 8/20/99 (2 copies, VHS)
  • Meyer Private Selection Ad (circa 2000, VHS)
  • Cook & Tell promotion (circa 2000, VHS)
  • Eric Baltzell: A Retrospective / A Leader (VHS)
  • Eric Baltzell: And So On… / Just Because (VHS)
  • Imogen Robbin interviewed by Julie Piper Finley (circa 1990, 2 copies, Hi-8)

Audio tapes removed to the OHS Sound Archive:

  • Fred Meyer interviewed by Gerry Pratt (1975, cassette)
  • Imogen Robbin interviewed by Julie Piper Finley (original tape) (circa 1990, cassette)
  • Fred Meyer ads responding to union strike 8/24/94 (cassette)
  • Fred Meyer ads responding to union strike 8/26/94(cassette)
  • Smitty’s to Fred Meyer Marketplace PHX radio news coverage KTAK-AM 2/1/99 (cassette)
  • FM Marketplace radio coverage on KPYI AM and KTAR AM 2/2/99 (cassette)
  • Imogen Robbin interviewed by Julie Piper Finley (circa 1990, 2 CDs)

Artifacts removed to the OHS Museum:

  • Fred Meyer Marketplace Hat (1999)
  • Fred Meyer Marketplace Tote Bag (1999)
  • Fred Meyer Marketplace ball point pens with “What’s on your list today?” slogan (1999)
  • Smitty’s Marketplace magnets (1998)
  • Employee Merit Buttons (22 Total, circa 1980s)
  • Fred Meyer Holiday Blinking Buttons
  • Magnets advertising grand opening of Fred Meyer store in Ballard, WA (1999)
  • Special Edition Founder’s Blend Coffee Bag(circa 1990s)
  • 25-cent Fred Meyer trade-in coins (circa 1960s)
  • Recipe boards from the Fred Meyer Candy Kitchen (circa 1950s-1960s)

Related Materials

The Northwest Companies Collection (Mss 2858) includes prospectuses and proxy vote statements for Fred Meyer, Inc.

The Business Collection 1830-2008 (Mss 1510) also includes ephemera related to Fred Meyer, Inc.

The OHS Film and Video archive has a collection of 16mm home movies filmed by Eva Meyer, Fred Meyer's wife, under accession number 18052.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Display of merchandise--Oregon--Photographs.
  • Display of merchandise--Oregon.
  • Grocers--Oregon.
  • Grocery stores--Oregon--Photographs.
  • Grocery stores--Oregon.

Personal Names

  • Meyer, Fred G., 1886-1978--Photographs.
  • Meyer, Fred G., 1886-1978.

Corporate Names

  • Fred Meyer, Inc.--Archives. (creator)
  • Fred Meyer, Inc.--Photographs. (creator)

Geographical Names

  • Oregon--Business enterprises.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Clippings (information artifacts)
  • Color transparencies
  • Negatives (photographs)
  • Photographs
  • Scrapbooks
  • Slides (photographic)

Finding aid prepared by Veronica Vichit Vadakan
2011

CC0

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