The History of City Market: The Brothers Four and the Colorado Back Slope Empire

by Anthony F. Prinster, Kate Ruland-Thorne

Overview

City Market's story begins with a penniless eighteen-year-old immigrant and closes with the business becoming part of the largest supermarket chain in the United States. In 1924, brothers Paul, Frank, Leo and Clarence Prinster bought a meat market in Grand Junction, Colorado, a business venture that would allow them to ride out the stock market crash and the Great Depression. It also allowed them to open the state's first supermarket in 1939, the beginning of an empire that remained in the family for over a century and helped shape the heritage of western Colorado. Tony Prinster shares how the City Market founders and its dedicated employees transformed a family business into the retail brand that touched the lives of so many people.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626192867
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	10/15/2013
Series:	Landmarks
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	8.98(w) x 6.06(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Anthony F. Prinster is the great-grandson of Josef Preuenster, whose sons are the brothers four.é The author holds a BA from the University of Notre Dame, and a JD from the University of Colorado. He is of counsel with the law firm Hoskin, Farina & Kampf in Grand Junction, Colorado. Kate Ruland-Thorne is a regular contributor to Grand Valley Magazine. Her writing has also appeared in Arizona Highways and Southwest Art. Kate was editor of Sedona magazine and has written seven regional history books, including Lion of Redstone, published by Johnson Publishing. She holds a BA from Southern Methodist University.

Table of Contents

Preface 9

Acknowledgements 11

Part I The Immigrants

The Pioneer 13

The Immigrant (1854-1873) Josef Pruenster 18

The American (1873-1889) Joseph Prinster 25

Bohemilla "Millie" Kroboth Prinster (1870-1939) 31

Queen City of the Arkansas Valley (1889-1900) La Junta 34

Trials and Triumphs of Joseph and Millie (1900-1939) 41

Part II The Brothers Four

The Founder (1890-1956) Paul H. Prinster 63

The Peacemaker (1892-1975) Frank J. Prinster 72

The Kingfish (1895-1985) Leo G. Prinster 85

The Artist (1904-1997) Clarence F. Prinster 93

The Skiing Padre (1902-1956) Edward C. Prinster 96

Part III The Supermarket Empire

Grand Junction (1924-1939) 101

Colorado's Most Modern Market (1939) 110

The Expansion Years (1940-1956) 114

Succession and the Corporate World (1949-1956) 129

The Takeover (1957-1963) 133

The Merger 140

The Presidents 147

Epilogue 163

Appendix I City Market Stores 169

Appendix II Exhibits 173

Notes 179

Index 187

About the Authors 192