THE LLOYD J. KING AND ELEANOR R. KING FOUNDATION is a Colorado Charitable Foundation chartered after the death of Lloyd King in January of 1998.  It was funded after the death of Eleanor King in June, 2008.

            Colorado remembers Lloyd King as the Founder of King Soopers and the Developer of the Town of Bow Mar, Colorado.  He was a grocery pioneer and innovator.  H was the first grocer in the country to include a pharmacy in his stores.  From humble beginnings he rose to become one of the "Nation’s" foremost food merchandisers.  Today King Soopers is a part of the Kroger Chain of supermarkets.

           Lloyd King’s early life was difficult.  He was born on a farm near Meadow Grove, Nebraska on April 21, 1906.  He worked in a general store as a boy. Lloyd J. King’s mother died when he was very young and his father passed away when he was 16, leaving Lloyd with two sisters and three brothers. By then, the Kings were living in Los Angeles where young Lloyd went to work in a Los Angeles wholesale produce market. At 18 Lloyd returned to Nebraska and finished high school, working his way through school by doing chores in an uncle’s store. Shortly thereafter, he opened a feed store in Meadow Grove, Nebraska. King returned to California in 1930 and obtained his first job with a wholesale grocery company.  He became store manager before returning to Denver in 1934.

It was during the Depression that King opened the first Save-A-Nickel store. “I had $200.00 and a friend loaned me $700.00”. Those were the days when Lloyd rose at 3 a.m. to get to the produce market, do the buying, get the produce back to the store, clean it, display it and have everything ready by 7 a.m., when the doors were open.

            By 1944 Save-A-Nickel Stores had increased to five Colorado locations.  The Second World War changed Lloyd’s life.  He was drafted into the Navy and forced to sell his interest in the Save-A-Nickel stores.  He returned to Denver in 1946 and determined to get back in the grocery business he bought a meat market in Arvada, which later became the first King Soopers in Colorado.

            Eleanor King was born in the farming community of Lewiston, Illinois on March 6, 1912.  She met Lloyd King in Denver after moving to Colorado following the Second World War.  They were married in Denver on October 8, 1947 and celebrated their 50th anniversary the year before Lloyd passed away. She was a full partner in all of Lloyd’s business and philanthropic activities.  Her favorite charity was the Dumb Friends League.

            Lloyd’s favorite charity was the Salvation Army.  In addition he was instrumental in the establishment of the Food Bank of the Rockies, which King Soopers continues to support.

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