[2] In 2007, the company had 188 stores across northern, central, and western Illinois; eastern Iowa; and portions of northwest Indiana.

Prior to its 1984 acquisition by American Stores, Jewel evolved into a large multi-state holding company that operated several supermarket chains and other non-food retail chain stores located from coast to coast and had operated under several different brand names.

In 1902, Skiff partnered with his brother-in-law Frank P. Ross, renaming the venture the Jewel Tea Company.

Within a few years, it returned to profitability through the leadership of new company officials: retired Commanders John M. Hancock and Maurice H. Karker, who had both gained extensive logistics experience as US Navy supply officers during the war.

The acquisition of both Osco and Turn Style allowed Jewel to expand into non-food related retailing that would complement their existing food retailing business and also to expand the geographic range of its main food distribution business since the non-food companies had a different geographical footprint.

Jewel expanded into the home improvement retail market by acquiring Republic Lumber in 1972.

[30][31] In 1965, Jewel expanded into the convenience store business by opening Kwik Shoppe, a chain that was quickly renamed White Hen Pantry within a few months.

Until 2010, Jewel and Osco stores under the same roof have had separate operations, managers, ordering and receiving procedures, budgets and employees.

The Jewel Companies, Inc. chairman Weston Christopherson was opposed to a merger and Sam Skaggs subsequently engineered a hostile takeover.

On June 14, Sam Skaggs and Jewel president Richard Cline reached an agreement after an all-night bargaining session.

In return, Jewel dropped plans for a defensive acquisition of Household International Inc. (parent company of California supermarket chain Vons) and accepted American Stores' offer.

[48][49][50][51] The Jewel name returned to Florida five years after the company closed all of its Jewel-T discount food stores in 1984.

Florida was considered a good market for Jewel because of the high number of Chicagoans who had relocated to that state.

American replaced the Skaggs-Alpha Beta name with that of Jewel-Osco on all 76 stores in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas, expanding the chain toward the southwestern states.

SuperValu announced on January 5, 2007, that it would offer for sale its Jewel-Osco stores in the Milwaukee area.

[70][71] Since the experiment was successful, Albertsons decided to expand this concept to all stores that would be able to support it and was allowed by local government.

[citation needed] Its customer base gave it a 45% share of the grocery market in Chicago,[63] trailed by the Safeway Inc.-owned Dominick's chain (ranking second at 15 percent) before its closure.

[82] Consumers from 80% of all households in the Chicago metropolitan area visit a Jewel-Osco store at least once a month.

[83] On January 10, 2013, SuperValu announced the sale of Jewel food stores to Cerberus Capital Management in a $3.3 billion deal.

[86] On May 15, 2017, Jewel-Osco made a bid to purchase all 19 Strack & Van Til grocery stores for $100 million.

[87] The Jewel-Osco bid was ultimately unsuccessful and the stores were sold in the bankruptcy auction to the Strack and Van Til families and the Indiana Grocery Group.

[citation needed] In 1973, Jewel Companies opened an experimental Jewel Grand Bazaar, on the southwest side of Chicago; a store that encompassed an entire city block at the northwest corner of 54th Street and Pulaski Road.

[98] Jewel T expanded into Pennsylvania in 1978 and many suburban Philadelphia kids in this gas crisis era remember mom driving the Vega or Pinto out to Jewel T, and bringing back powdered milk, frozen pretzels, and bulk frozen cherry pielettes.

[101] By the end of 1979, Jewel T had 87 stores located in the states of Florida, Georgia, Texas, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Alabama.

At the same time it encountered problems competing against the full service supermarkets which fought back by dropping prices, in some cases at or below costs, on the same limited items that Jewel T and other discount food stores specialized in stocking.

[96][109] Jewel Companies expanded into the hardware and home improvement business by acquiring Republic Lumber in 1972.

While as a subsidiary division of American Stores, Jewel-Osco began offering the Canadian staple President's Choice branded products in 1992.

[111] President's Choice is a house brand created and distributed by Loblaw Companies Limited of Toronto, Ontario.

Loblaw makes extra money by offering their President's Choice to other retailers who do not compete in their home marketing areas.

In an Illinois Retail Merchants Association online article, retired Jewel-Osco chairman Don Perkins reflects, "Jewel has a tradition of people orientation."