In late 1945, a group of these independent retailers from Oklahoma, New Mexico and the panhandle of Texas banded together to form Panhandle Associated Grocers, Inc.; later to become Affiliated Foods, Inc.
With a few retailers pooling resources and a rented warehouse of 4,000 square feet, the first order rolled out in February of 1946. Sales that first year tallied 500,000. Affiliated Foods moved to its present location on South Washington in 1960. On November 1, 1968, the Board of Directors of South Plains Associated Grocers, Inc. in Lubbock, Texas and the Panhandle Associated Grocers, Inc. merged to form Affiliated Foods, Inc.
Today, some seventy years later, the legacy of those tenacious owner-retailers is realized in a company that supplies locations in seven states with yearly sales in excess of a billion dollars. An amazing 1,200,000 square foot distribution center, a fleet of efficient tractor/trailer units, a milk plant, a bakery, and a potato storage and packaging facility are assets utilized by this generation of grocery owners. A bright future is set for the next seventy years.
