Brooks Grocery in Iuka, the family-founded grocery store on Battleground Drive, has a new owner. Houchens Food Group Inc., based in Bowling Green, Kentucky, has bought the Brooks Grocery company. The price was not disclosed. The family says shoppers will not notice a difference: the name, staff, leadership and offerings are all staying.
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported the sale last week. On Monday, the Tishomingo County News posted that Brooks Grocery “begins a new chapter with familiar faces.”
Brooks Grocery Iuka: What Changes and What Doesn’t
The Brooks family said in a statement that the Brooks Grocery name, service, employees, leadership and product lineup will remain in place. Customers should expect the same shopping experience they have known since the store opened.
The family said it picked Houchens partly for the company’s long history in the grocery business and partly because Houchens is 100% employee-owned. The family called Houchens the right partner to carry Brooks Grocery forward, saying the company shares its commitment to employees, customers, suppliers and the communities it serves.
The family summed up the deal in three short lines: the name stays, the people stay, and the Brooks Grocery experience stays.
From Iuka to Three Stores
Brooks Davis founded Brooks Grocery in Iuka in 2010. The Iuka store, at 600 Battleground Drive, remains its home base. Its Facebook page has about 18,000 followers.
2010: First store opens in Iuka
September 2020: A store opens in Chapel Hill, Tennessee
July 2021: A 24,000-square-foot store opens in Tupelo’s Market Center II on Coley Road
The store showed no sign of slowing down on Monday. Brooks Grocery – Iuka posted about its new “Freaky Fruit” Halloween display, which includes dragon fruit, rambutan, starfruit, kiwano and other exotic produce.
Who Is Houchens Food Group?
Houchens Food Group runs more than 400 grocery stores, convenience stores, hardware stores and quick-service restaurants across 15 states. Its holdings include more than 100 Food Giant supermarkets in eight states. The parent company, Houchens Industries, began in 1917, when Ervin G. Houchens founded Houchens Foods in Glasgow, Kentucky. It became fully employee-owned in 1988, after employees bought the company back from Promodes, the parent company of Red Food Stores.
The deal keeps a locally known name on one of Tishomingo County’s main grocery stores, now backed by a much larger regional chain. Questions about the change can be directed to the Iuka store at 600 Battleground Drive.
Jon R Myers is the executive editor of Alcorn County News and the founder of the Mississippi News Group, which he started in 2013 to cover communities across North Mississippi. He also founded the Mississippi Sports Group in 2006, which grew from a single community publication into a statewide network covering high school and college athletics. He reports on local government, public safety, schools and community life in Corinth and Alcorn County, working from public meetings, agency records and interviews with the people involved. Contact him at editor@alcornnewsms.com with news tips or corrections. For a correction, include the article link and supporting source material.
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