Red & White was the first store brand for grocery merchandise, food products, beverages and household supplies. The brand was first launched on cans of coffee in 1908 by Smith Michael (S.M.) Flickinger in Buffalo, New York to compete with A&P and its popular private brand coffee and was named after the color on the store shelves. The Red & White Wholesale Corporation that grew from S.M. Flickinger's first store in Buffalo, supplied groceries to independent grocery stores, and during World War I, the pressure on the small stores increased as food was rationed. By this time the company was operating as its own chain of Flickinger's retail stores, as well as the wholesale operation supplying other retailers. Today, there are thousands of Red & White products serving as the primary store brand in independent grocery stores across the United States. History In 1908 Smith Michael (S.M.) Flickinger developed the first store brand product, cans of coffee, to compete with A&P. Flickinger named the brand Red & White after the colors of his store shelves and the coffee was a hit. Over the course of the next ten years, a wide assortment of Red & White products was added to Flickinger's store. By 1921, Flickinger's success had grown into a small chain of Red & White stores throughout upstate New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, while simultaneously supplying other independent stores with Red & White products through his warehouse. This collection of Red & White stores and independent stores became the Red & White stores Voluntary Group System. Membership to the group included site selection, training, discounted store fixtures and professional window display for initial store openings to help avoid the failure of thousands of corner grocers. Following the trademark registration for Red & White in 1925, wholesalers from Canada and the United States began visiting Buffalo to learn about the voluntary concept. Many received permission from Flickinger to set up similar operations, and they spread quickly from coast-to-coast. As the independent Red & White stores spread throughout the United States, the “family” of stores kept in close communication through a monthly Red & White magazine that was “published in Chicago for all Red & White members everywhere.” During the Great Depression, the independent wholesalers and approximately 6,700 retailers benefited from the ability to collaborate and volume buy the grocery store products through the Voluntary Group System. The growing private store