When Evelyn “Sunny” Stater, widow of Stater Bros. co-founder Lavoy Stater, turns 100 Saturday, her family will help her celebrate.
Not only was Evelyn Stater the wife of a co-founder of the San Bernardino-based company, she was the first employee of Stater Bros. Markets. She was hired in 1936 by twin brothers Cleo and Leo Stater after they purchased the W.A. Davis grocery store in Yucaipa where she worked.
The Yucaipa store became the first Stater Bros. market and Evelyn worked there weighing, checking and cleaning eggs brought in to sell, according to her son Edward Stater, who retired after 43 years as company senior vice president.
She also kept the books on credit extended to customers.
Twins Leo and Cleo ran the store and were joined by their younger brother, Lavoy.
Evelyn worked for Cleo and Leo before she met and married Lavoy.
In 1943, Evelyn married Lavoy, and continued working at the market until her first child’s birth in 1948.
• Timeline: TIMELINE: The company celebrated its 80th anniversary on Aug. 17.
• The first Stater Bros. Market, located on West Yucaipa Boulevard, opened Aug. 17, 1936
• By 1937, the brothers acquired a second store on Olive Street in Redlands, followed by markets in Colton and Fontana
• In 1948, Stater Bros. opened its first supermarket on Mission Boulevard in Riverside
• In 1951, the company moved into an office and warehouse in Colton
• By 1981, the chain had 92 stores with annual sales of $500 million. The board elected Jack H. Brown as chief executive officer and under his leadership, the chain grew from 69 to 168 stores
• In 2007, Stater Bros. moved from Colton to San Bernardino
• Based in San Bernardino, the 2.3-million-square-foot headquarters building is on the former Norton Air Force Base.
• In December 2015, Jack stepped down as CEO. Pete Van Helden succeeded him.• The company, which employs more than 18,000 people, opened its 169th store Aug. 24 in Simi Valley.
To this day, Jack refers to everyone from the founders to the staff of employees as the “Stater Bros. family.”
Evelyn and Lavoy had three children, seven grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
The couple’s son, Edward, retired from Stater Bros. in 2011 as a senior vice president, having served the company for more than 43 years.
“It’s pretty incredible how Stater Bros. has grown since the brothers started that first store in 1936,” said author and historian Nick Cataldo.
“What really impresses me about Jack Brown, a San Bernardino native who worked his way up as a box boy at Berk’s Market and then worked for Sages — both of which started in San Bernardino — is he took over the chain as CEO,” Cataldo continued.
“It was largely through his leadership that this large chain still has a small-town ‘Mom and Pop’ feel because of the way customers are treated and the way employees are treated.”
According to Jack H. Brown, executive chairman of Stater Bros. Markets, Evelyn played an important part in keeping the company going during the war.
“Women can be encouraged by her,” Brown said.
“Evelyn Stater made countless contributions to Stater Bros. Markets. Without her support in the early days, Stater Bros. future may not have been as bright and blessed,” he added.
“Women have played a big role in the Stater Bros. success story, but none has played a bigger role than that of Evelyn Stater and the Stater wives.”
Since it was founded in 1939 in Yucaipa, Stater Bros. has grown steadily to become the largest privately owned supermarket chain in Southern California and the largest private employer in the Inland Empire.
