Michael J. Cullen (1884–1936) was an American entrepreneur and salesman known as the founder of the King Kullen grocery store chain, widely considered to be the first supermarket founded in America.
In 1930, at age 46, he wrote a letter to the president of Kroger, proposing a new type of food store with a focus on low prices, larger square footage, cash sales, no delivery service, and low-rent locations with plenty of parking.
[3] Undaunted, and confident in his ability to see his idea become a reality, he quit his job and moved his family to Long Island to launch his own store.
[3] Cullen leased a vacant garage at the corner of 171st Street and Jamaica Avenue in Queens, just a few blocks from a busy shopping district.
King Kullen stores reused large older buildings, including abandoned factories and warehouses, in low-rent locations on the borders of populated areas.
[citation needed] Although Cullen did not live long enough to see himself vindicated by history, he correctly foresaw that the supermarket would literally become the "World's Greatest Price Wrecker".
[5] Existing grocery store retailers, including leading chains Safeway, Kroger and The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, found the supermarket concept easy to imitate.