This Midwest Supermarket Only Has One Illinois Store Left

Learning that TGI Fridays went from 270 locations at the start of 2024 to a lowly 85 at this point in time truly shocked me. I was stunned to learn that a once-prominent chain had fallen so mightily following its bankruptcy filing.

It got me to reminisce about some stores and restaurants I remember vividly from my childhood that no longer exist. The Jimmy Buffett fan in me misses the food at Cheeseburger in Paradise, but at least there are plenty of Margaritaville restaurants across the country. Circuit City was never a place I went to very often, but it was a reliable spot for headphones, or to browse the latest DVDs.

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Then I thought about Cub Foods, a once-prominent grocery chain, largely located in the Midwest. There was a Cub Foods only about five miles from my house, and I can remember browsing the VHS tapes they stocked while my mother shopped.

For those who don't remember the chain, it's contemporary (local) comp would probably be Fareway. It wasn't the biggest store, and if you wanted a specialty item, you might not be able to find it. But you could do a good majority of your produce, meat, and canned good shopping there and come away maybe only having to get a handful of items elsewhere.

Photo Credits: Canva

I was sure Cub Foods had gone the way of the Roman Empire, until I got to sleuthing. As fate would have it, Cub Foods still exists, albeit in a far smaller facet than when I was a child in the early 2000s. While the final Iowa location (Ames) closed in 2010, and the last Wisconsin store (Madison) closed in 2012, one Cub Foods (now just simply "Cub") still exists in the Land of Lincoln.

The last Cub in Illinois is in Freeport, IL, just under two hours east of the Tri-States. Reviews of Freeport's Cub are strongly positive, and the store does have a bakery, pharmacy, deli, florist, and most of the basic facets you expect from just about every modern-day grocer.

As of this writing, Cub's other 105 locations all exist in Minnesota, and at this time, they don't appear to be expanding. They don't seem to be struggling to survive either. Unlike many corporations, who have gone out of business due in part to shifting economic demands of consumers, crippling debt, or an ill-advised acquisition, Cub seems to be functioning very well in the sector it's carved out for itself.

While Cub probably doesn't hold a candle to grocery stores like Hy-Vee or Mariano's — insofar that they don't offer the depth of selection, in-store restaurants, hot food bars, etc — it is still a perfectly adequate, clean, and reliable spot to grab some essentials. When you think about communities comprised of fewer than, say, 80,000 people, there's value in a place like Cub over a place like Dollar General, where desperately few fresh food options even exist.

You can read more about the history of Cub Foods on Wikipedia, or peruse the "Store Locator" feature on their website.