Chatham (grocer)

The Weisberg family,^[1] already in the grocery business, purchased Chatham Village Supermarket in 1947.^[2][3] By 1963, Chatham (the "Village" having been dropped) had grown to nine stores in East Side Detroit.^[4] Peter Weisberg served as president and chairman of the board^[2] and various other family members occupied top executive positions.^[3] By August 1968, it had grown to 24 stores.^[5]

In 1975, it was the first company in the Michigan area to try out the Universal Product Code.^[6]

In October 1980, it was believed that Chatham was the second largest supermarket chain in the region by number of stores (44) and sales volume (around $550 million), behind Farmer Jack, although this could not be confirmed because Chatham was privately owned and did not provide any data.^[7] That year, it also had three Warehouse Way discount drugstores and a Chatham Plus superstore and opened a warehouse store called Pak-n-Save.^[7] In 1982, the Chatham Plus five-year experiment was considered a failure, as was a wholesale meat processing plant;^[8] opening in 1966, the latter closed in January 1979.^[9] At the time of its sale in May 1985, the chain had either 50 stores,^[3] 39 stores, or 33 supermarkets and eight Pak-n-Saves;^[10] it was purchased by Nu-Trax, Inc., headed by Wendell Smith.^[10][11]

In March 1986, Nu-Trax was purchased by Alex Dandy, a businessman who owned the Hamady Brothers food chain in Flint, Michigan,^[11][12] at which point Chatham was down to 21 stores and 1000 employees.^[13] Under his leadership, all but two stores were shut down.^[13] Dandy illegally diverted assets of the company to his personal benefit, and Chatham was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1987.^[11] Dandy was convicted in 1991, of tax offenses, mail fraud, bankruptcy fraud, and obstruction of justice.^[11]