Eddie Basha oral history tells the story of Basha Grocery Stores

How and why these Arizona grocers outgrew their home state

 Rey Covarrubias Jr.

(Historical League photos not used in article) 

Eddie Basha Historymaker 2001

Arizona Republic.    

Jan. 10, 2026, 5:00 a.m. MT  

Arizona hosts dozens of national grocery and retail chains. Population growth and development continue to draw companies into metro Phoenix.

But which stores still in Arizona were also founded in the state?

Only a handful of major retailers were founded in Arizona and later grew into statewide or national brands. Expansion pushed each company away from local ownership through public offerings or corporate sales. Each company maintained significant operations in Arizona after that transition.

From grocery chains to a national retailer of pet products, here is a look at several retailers founded in Arizona.

Bashas' one of the originals

Bashas’ is one of Arizona’s oldest and most recognizable grocery brands.

The Basha family founded Bashas’ in Arizona in 1932, building the company from a single Chandler grocery store into a statewide supermarket chain, according to the Arizona Historical League’s oral history of Eddie Basha.

Bashas’ expanded across Arizona under multiple store brands, including Bashas’, Food City and AJ’s Fine Foods.

By the early 2000s, it had become one of the largest grocery operators in the state, with more than 100 locations across Arizona, New Mexico and the Navajo Nation.

The chain faced mounting pressure from national competitors and supply constraints, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In October 2021, the Basha family announced it would sell Bashas’ to California-based Raley’s Holding Co. President and CEO Edward “Trey” Basha III said the pandemic highlighted the disadvantages smaller chains face when competing for limited supplier inventory, The Arizona Republic reported at the time.

The transaction ended nearly 90 years of family ownership but kept the brand’s operational base in Arizona.

January 2025 meeting

2025 Historical League is off to a great start. The January meeting had education-filled stories from guest speaker, Dr. Christine Marin,

Dr. Christine Marin

enthusiastic Historymakers report from Diana Smith

Historymakers co-chair Diana Smith

and a report from AHS Deputy Assistant Director Vincent Bradley accompanied by his sons. They were off school and decided to dress like Daddy for the presentation.

A new category of Co-Presidents featuring Pam den Draak with Pat Faur is working well for the 2024-2025 Historical League. They both supervised the January meeting.

We are delighted to introduce four new members of the Historical League.

Left to Right: Jane Robertson, Christine Phillips, Caroline Bissell, Melissa Johnson

Historymaker Colangelo set to be honored at luncheon by Duane Rankin Arizona Republic

A month from turning 82 years young, Jerry Colangelo has lived a life filled with countless achievements, but this latest one is very special and dear to his heart. The former Suns team owner will be recognized at Wednesday’s Jerry Colangelo 50 Years of Golden Achievements Tribute Luncheon beginning at noon at Chateau Luxe. “This is all news to me,” Colangelo said Tuesday afternoon. “It’s all come up in the last 24 hours that (Gregg Osro) wanted to recognize the last 50 years of my existence.” Presented by Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC), the luncheon will announce the Jerry Colangelo Integrity Scholarship Endowment that will provide scholarships to students attending accredited Arizona college, trade, technology and art schools. “Recognizing 50 years is just a tribute to the consistency and the commitment that he’s had to the local community,” Suns current team owner Robert Sarver said. “He’s been involved and been so open to supporting so many organizations in need around the community.” Colangelo described the event honoring him as humbling. “Sometimes it’s uncomfortable, but if there’s really a good cause behind it, I can get through it,” Colangelo said. “I’ve been blessed with the ability to raise money for a lot of good causes in the community, raising funds for all the kinds of needs within the community. So you can call it a curse or you can call it a blessing. I’ll call it a blessing.” There will be a video tribute for Colangelo. “To me, I was given this platform,” Colangelo continued. “I’m a Christian. So I would say God gave me this platform and all I’m doing is taking a step at a time doing what I think he wants me to do. He set the platform. I’m just playing it out. That’s all I’m doing. So I can keep my feet on the ground that way, thinking about why am I here now in the first place? Is to make a contribution, make your community a better place to live and helping those who have needs and I’ve tried to focus resources and time to accomplish just that.” Sarver donated $15,000 through Phoenix Suns charities towards the scholarships.
“I was very pleased to hear that Robert has chosen to make a contribution for that purpose,” Colangelo said. “It made me feel very good.” Sarver got word about the scholarships last week and proceeded to make a donation as he’s been a partner with Chicanos Por La Causa for almost 40 years. “Jerry is very worthy of the tribute for everything he’s done for our community here,” Sarver said. “So (the endowment) was something we decided to invest in.” Colangelo said more than $100,000 is expected to be raised for the scholarships. “That’s exciting to me when you can make a difference in people’s lives and think of kids that would never go to school,” he said. “I know myself, had it not been for sports, had it not been for the ability to shoot a basketball, throw a baseball, I would’ve never gone to college. It did wonderful things for me and to give young people an opportunity to make something of their lives, I really enjoy that very much.” Colangelo and Sarver are the only two owners of the Suns since 1968. Colangelo sold the team to Sarver in 2004. “It was the beginning of a new era in the history of the franchise,” Colangelo said. “The fact that he did this gesture, to me, was very heartwarming to me and it’s very much appreciated that he chose to do that. And the fact he wanted to participate, I was very happy to hear it.” In looking back on Colangelo’s impact on the community, Sarver pointed to him having the Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks play their home games in downtown as the beginning of “a 24- hour city” for Phoenix. Colangelo was also a team owner of the Diamondbacks. “Most larger cities, I say a 24-hour city, they have office, retail and residential,” Sarver said. “And for years, Phoenix was just known as a place to go to work. Everyone came in the morning, everyone left at night, but when the old America West Arena (for the Suns) was built and then followed up with the baseball stadium, that helped turn the narrative of downtown Phoenix into more of a 24-hour city and a place where people were actually going downtown after work and on the weekends and was really the impetus for the residential that’s been built downtown, the re- tail that’s been built downtown. So it started the transformation of downtown Phoenix.”

Phoenix Suns to honor Historymaker Rev. Warren Stewart, key figure in fight for Arizona's MLK holiday

Honored by the Historical League as a Historymaker in 2017, Rev. Dr. Stewart continues to be recognized. 

From the Arizona Republic:
Longtime Civil rights activist the Rev. Dr. Warren H. Stewart Sr. is slated to be recognized during halftime of Monday’s Phoenix-San Antonio game as part of several activities on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Stewart a prominent leader in the effort for Arizona to adopt the holiday honoring King in the late 1980s and early '90s, after a holiday that had been put in place was rescinded by then-Gov. Evan Mecham. After several years of ongoing controversy and national publicity -- including the NFL vowing to withhold bringing a Super Bowl to the state -- voters approved adoption of the holiday in 1992, after an initial vote had failed two years earlier.

Complete story at https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/phoenix-suns-to-honor-rev-warren-stewart-key-figure-in-fight-for-arizonas-mlk-holiday/ar-BBZ5yK8

Makers and Bakers at Encanto Park

It's always fun to talk about Arizona history and Tastes & Treasures II at events. Stop by and say hello tomorrow at Encanto Park. noon - 5 pm. 
Historical League member Christine Hackett will be in our booth. She was a hit when she prepared Lakin’s Chili con Queso dip, page 188 of Tastes & Treasures II, for a recent party. 
Made and delivered in her crockpot, there were no leftovers to bring home. The reaction, “This is Y-U-M-M-Y!”

Alan Day, author of new book Cowboy Up

As part of the monthly Historical League meetings we often have guest speakers. Hearing the personal stories from Alan Day as he talked about his new book, Cowboy Up, on October 2 was most informative and entertaining. Alan grew up on the Lazy B and has been a rancher his entire life. After graduating from University of Arizona, he went straight back to the ranch and never left! Forty-five years later, he is sharing his life work in this new book and it is fascinating.

When his grandfather, H.C. Day started the ranch in 1880, it was part of New Mexico and Arizona Territories. It grew to 200,000 acres. The 5,000 head of cattle were originally from Chihuahua, Mexico and had the Lazy B brand. The name stayed.

H.C. Day and his wife, Alice, had many firsts in the area: the first brick house, the first bank, the first orchard, the first schoolhouse.

Cowboy Up, co-written with Lynn Weiss Sneyd, is filled with short stories of those times. Alan gave us the premier showing of his video of the ranch and his family. It has wonderful photographs and memories of his grandparents, his parents, and sister, Historymaker and former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Foremost in his talk, Alan shared his love of the land, the grasses and the importance of stewardship to the ranch.

H.C. and Alice Day

Sandra Day O'Connor and Alan Day

Water is the life blood of the ranch. Each cow needs 60 acres to graze.

Lazy B Ranch

Historymaker Jim Bruner: Importance of Volunteering

The Importance of Volunteering by Historymaker Jim Bruner. It is inspiring!!

Bruner: In honor of those who serve on Scottsdale boards, commissions
By Jim Bruner May 30th, 2017, Scottsdale Independent
In the early 1800s, a French sociologist came to the young United States initially to study its prisons systems, which he did for about nine months.He traveled by steamboat, by stagecoach, on horseback and in canoes, visiting American penitentiaries.
 He returned to France in 1831 and wrote his report. His name was Alexis de Tocqueville.
Then he set to work on a broader analysis of American culture and politics published in 1835 as “Democracy in America.” This book is considered a classic on early American culture.
One of the issues he focused on dealt with how the Americans — as contrasted with the Europeans — handled societies’ problems.
In America he said, neighbors, volunteers, would work together to help each other many times through their churches. In Europe, people would rely upon the government and its agencies to assist people.
He was amazed with how different our country was as compared with Europe in solving peoples’ needs.
Who knows how the volunteer spirit in America started, perhaps it goes all the way back to the days of the Pilgrims. But from our earliest years of people volunteering to help a neighbor build a barn, getting the crops harvested for a neighbor who had some adversity, helping others in need, as examples, this has been a constant theme of the people of this country.
Certainly true of the citizens of Scottsdale. They love to volunteer.
Who are volunteers? They are people who believe in a cause, a project, that helps their community:
Volunteers need to be motivated, need to have a leader they trust and respect. There is an old expression, “you can’t boss a volunteer.” They need a leader who will motivate them, inspire them. Otherwise, if they have no respect for their leader, they’ll take a hike and go find another cause, group, issue to support.
Volunteers must be volunteering for the right reasons. They must believe in the mission of whatever the group is and want to help. I have worked with volunteers, as I’m sure most of you have, that are in it for themselves, either personal or business gain. You can spot these a mile away — have “phony” stamped on their forehead. Most of these type of volunteers aren’t very effective and don’t last very long.
What role have volunteers played in the history and development of Scottsdale? It would be difficult to estimate the value volunteers like you folks bring to this community.
By serving on the many boards and commissions of the city, you and those who came before you, have attained tremendous achievements for our community.
Our former Mayor Herb Drinkwater said many times that many of the best ideas the city has used or adopted have come from its citizens.
The formal process of using citizens’ input probably came from the original STEP committees, Scottsdale Town Enrichment Programs. These were active in the 1950s and 60s, where many ideas were discussed in citizen’s groups.
Obviously not all ideas worked out, but the important thing is to think, to dream, of how Scottsdale can be a better place for all of us.
An idea everyone is familiar with is the Indian Bend Wash.
In the early 1960s, the Army Corps. of Engineers wanted to build a 300-foot-wide concrete ditch through the heart of Scottsdale to control flood waters, like the concrete ditch they built through the heart of Los Angeles.
In February 1964, a Scottsdale citizen, by profession a landscape designer and architect, wrote a guest column for the Scottsdale Daily Progress. He proposed a grass-lined channel with mini lakes to control the flow of water following heavy rains, but several days later when the water cleared and debris cleaned up, there would be parks, golf courses and other recreational amenities available to the residents of the city.
This idea became a reality and made what could have been an eyesore into something that we are proud of and is known through the country.
The Scottsdale citizen who wrote that letter became active in the community and later served two terms on the Scottsdale City Council. His name is Bill Walton.
In closing, I have no idea what any of you folks who serve on the city’s boards and commissions might have as your dream for our city but go for it.
Maybe it will work out, maybe it won’t but if you don’t try we will never know.
We are enjoying the shade of the trees planted by those who came before us. It is now our responsibility, our obligation, to plant the trees for those who follow us.
Thank you for your service to our community.
Editor’s note: These remarks were originally delivered by Mr. Brunner, Monday, May 22 at an appreciation reception for members of the city of Scottsdale’s Boards and Commissions.