Colonial Stores
David Pender Grocery Company
### David Pender Grocery Company

The chain evolved from [Norfolk, Virginia](/wiki/Norfolk%2C_Virginia "Norfolk, Virginia")'s D. P. Pender Grocery Stores, the first of which opened in 1900\. In its early years the company used horse drawn wagons to deliver goods to customers. In 1919 Pender opened a second grocery store in Norfolk, later expanding to more locations in Central and Eastern Virginia. Pender retired on January 1, 1926, making the David Pender Grocery Company a publicly owned corporation which later became a subsidiary of National Food Products Corporation. By Pender's retirement the company owned 244 stores and employed more than 1,500 people. In 1930 the company made an average of $35,000 in sales per store.


How many people were employed by the company at its peak?