A Swiss immigrant who had faced the death of both of his parents while he was still a young man moved to Rockford, Indiana, in 1852, working first in a saddlery and later for grocers Jacob and Henry Peter. A decade later the immigrant, John C. Groub, decided to go into business for himself and bought our Frank Smith and Edwin Moore’s store, losing it to fire the same year. He and his wife, Elizabeth, then relocated to the newly platted town of Seymour, where they opened a new grocery store on South Chestnut Street.
After 1871 the company conducted its business out of a West Second Street location that had three stories of floor space, with a warehouse off-site. In the warehouse the Groubs stored products such as cooking oil, vinegar, and syrup. Interestingly, the warehouse also housed cements and plaster of paris, goods the company sold on a regular basis. Beyond canned and dry goods, the Seymour firm also dealt in farm and dairy products.
By 1885 sales of the firm has reached $80,000 a year. John died in 1888, leaving the business to his son, Theodore Groub, and his son-in-law, William P. Masters. Masters had married Emma Groub in November 1887. Masters continued to have an active part in the company, as a traveling salesman, until 1902, when Theodore Roosevelt appointed him the postmaster of Seymour. Later, Theodore Groub handed the company’s future to his sons Thomas C. and John C.
In 1927 the organization reentered the retail market in the form of the Jay C Food Store of Scottsburg. By the 1940s the parent company owned 44 such stores. The shops carried mostly dry goods and bread, preferring not to compete with butchers and farmers in the fresh-produce categories. As the times changed, however, the John C. Groub Company evolved, adding fresh fruits, vegetables, and fine meats.
With the increase in stores in the 1930s and 1940s new warehouses were built to accommodate the increased volume of traffic. In 1964 the company built a large, modern, central warehouse on the outskirts of Seymour. The new storage facility made use of motorized carts and forklifts rather than mechanical pushcarts. After 1964 several large additions increased the size of the facility, and new technologies installed in the building, such as refrigeration vaults, kept pace with the changing demands placed upon grocers.
By 1994, with close to 900 employees, the John C. Groub company was one of the five largest private retail companies in Indiana. Within three years the company had more than doubled its number of employees, becoming the single largest private retail employer in the state. By the end of 1998 the company ran 30 stores, most under the name Jay C Food Store. In January 1999 the Kroger Company, a Cincinnati-based national food chain with 2,200 stores in 31 states and $43 billion in annual sales, purchased the John C. Groub Company. Under the merger agreement, Jay C Food Stores kept their name and all employees were kept in place.
Today, JayC has 30 stores in 26 towns in Southern Indiana. JayC has 2,500 team members carrying on the proud tradition of quality products, value and service.