Houchens Industries

HOUCHENS INDUSTRI ES 7 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 3 Complemented by a strong foundation of well over 30 companies and more than 16,000 employees corporate-wide, Houchens Industries is one of the largest 100 percent employee- owned companies in the world. Diversification is what separates it from other companies and is why the Bowling Green, Kentucky- based Houchens has evolved significantly since it achieved S-Corp status in 1999. Perhaps the most important corporate decision in Houchens’ history came in 1988. That is when Houchens employees bought back the company from Promodès, the parent company of Chattanooga-based Red Food Stores, and established an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan). At that point, Houchens became 100 percent employee-owned. Houchens was also completely invested in only the supermarket/ grocery industry then. In the years that followed Houchens purchased multiple Save- A-Lot grocery stores and Jr. Food convenience stores to add to its retail presence. Starting in the early 2000s, the company began to significantly diversify and has made numerous acquisitions in the retail, industrial manufacturing and distribution, construction, consumer products and insurance industries. Today, Houchens has created a balanced portfolio of operating companies. The industrial/ manufacturing sector and the retail sector each comprise approximately 30 percent of total value