Earlier this month, Reading, PA-based Redner’s Markets unveiled a new retail format – Cost Boss Food Store – on March 5 converting an existing conventional Redner’s store on Eastern Avenue in Baltimore into a value-focused supermarket prioritizing everyday savings and simplified shopping.
The new Cost Boss banner is a streamlined discount supermarket offering everyday low prices and bulk essentials, utilizing manufacturer promotions for both grocery and non-food items. Customers can also use the new Redner’s mobile app, also debuting on March 5, to shop for deals online.
Cost Boss represents the newest banner for the regional chain, which was founded 56 years ago and enjoyed early success in developing warehouse markets primarily in Central PA. Today, the company operates 44 supermarkets and 23 Quick Shoppe convenience stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.
The company was founded in 1970 by former Grand Union executive Earl Redner and his wife, Mary, with two small supermarkets near Reading, PA. Their son, Richard, became CEO in 1975. In 2017, Ryan Redner succeeded his father as chief executive. Richard Redner passed away in 2024 – his wife, Elaine, currently serves as Redner’s chairwoman. Other family members including Gary Michael Redner, Jason Hopp and Alexis Foreman hold key executive roles.
In 1975, Redner’s became one of the first food retailers to create an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan), ensuring that team members share in the success they help create.
In addition to Cost Boss, under the leadership of Ryan Redner, the company has diversified its store formats. In 2019, the company opened its first Redner’s Fresh Market in Wyomissing, PA. That format focuses on perishables and prepared foods. Since then, six other Redner’s Fresh Markets have opened or been converted.
A company spokesman said that the idea about developing a no-frills discount store was first discussed in 2019 but was put on hold during the COVID pandemic. With the shifting economy and changing consumer behavior, the time seemed right to launch this new format.
Late last year, Redner’s broke ground on a 52,000-square-foot location in the Kirkwood Plaza Shopping Center in Wilmington, DE (at the site of a former Acme store). The new unit, termed Redner’s Fresh Market 2.0, is expected to open later this year.
