NOT COMPLETE - I AM WORKING ON IT

Emil  A. Hagstrom (1886-1964) born in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Immigrating to he U.S. in 1907

After saving enough money, he purchased a small creamery in Seattle.  Hagstrom built the company for a year and subsequently sold it for a large profit.  He then purchased and ran a creamery in Everett Washington, but due to economic trends, the business failed.

  He moved to Oakland, California in the spring of 1917 and with only $75  he opened a small creamery store Mutual Creamery,  which expanded to include groceries.   

By 1929, he sold the business which had developed into a chain of 335 (300?) stores known as The Mutual Food Stores.  In that same year, his chain was merged with  MacMarr Stores which later became part of Safeway Stores. 1

In 1932, he launched Hagstrom's Food Stores, Inc.  Over the next 11 years, the one store grew to 51, with a total of 600 employees, and the successful enterprise eventually merged with present-day Safeway, Inc.

 

References:

1.  The 1960 Sale of Hagstroms -https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18457267/hagstroms_sale_feb11_1960/