A Century of Service: The Naifeh’s Food Stores Legacy

It all started when an immigrant from Beirut, Lebanon arrived in Covington, Tennessee in 1910. Joseph S. Naifeh entered the country through Ellis Island in New York. He opened his first grocery store on the East Side of the Covington Square at 116 East Court Square. Joseph was known as “Uncle Joe” to the community.

In 1920, just a few years later, Oney Joseph Naifeh arrived in Covington to help his father run the grocery store. They moved locations in 1923, but remained on the East Side of the Square. The name of this store was “J. S. Naifeh” and it was located at 102 East Court Square.

In 1929, Oney’s Father, “Uncle Joe” died. At a very young age, Oney took over his fathers store. He remodeled it and changed the name to “Oney J. Naifeh”. The building had “Oney J. Naifeh” and said “Everything Good to Eat” on the front. Oney had a lot of “firsts”. He had the first meat market in a grocery store in Covington. He also sold the first bottle of milk and loaf of bread. This store was also the first store in Covington to have shopping carts.

In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, Oney bought out the Covington Kroger and the Covington Piggly Wiggly. Oney named these stores Liberty Cash Grocery and Hyde Park Grocery, respectively. Oney’s primary store was still the Oney J. Naifeh store located on the Square. At a very young age, Joe began working alongside his father.

In 1963, Oney’s son Joe built a new store, “Naifeh’s Lucky Food Store” located at 738 Highway 51 North. It was the only new building on the North side of town.

Oney kept his store on the square open until 1968, at that time he closed the doors to the Square location and moved into the building with Joe. The Naifeh’s joined the Food Rite group in 1983. They had several remodels and expansions with a major one in 1987 in response to a new 45,000 square foot Kroger.

In 1994, Joe’s son, Judson, graduated from college and came back into the family business with his grandfather and father. In 1997, the Naifeh’s expanded into the South end of the county. They purchased an existing store, Carter’s Food Rite. It was at this time, they dropped the Food Rite Group and simply became Naifeh’s Food Markets.

In 2000, the family purchased  a second Covington location, on the South end of town, Cooper’s Piggly Wiggly. They operated it as a Piggly Wiggly for about a year before they closed it.

In 2014, due to the struggling market conditions, the Naifeh’s made a tough decision to convert their Covington store into a cost plus ten percent format store. It was the right move for the Company. The conversion increased the sales volume and made the store profitable again.

In 2020, in the middle of the world wide pandemic, the “Naifeh’s” bought out the Kroger store in Covington. They did an extensive remodel of the property. In March of 2021, they closed the doors to the original highway location and they moved further North of town to 951 Highway 51 North.

In January 2024, the fifth generation, Judson William Oney Naifeh Jr., “Oney” joined forces. Oney’s first major undertaking was implementing online shopping.

Over the past 100 years, the grocery business has changed tremendously. Our country’s economy has fluctuated with Wars, the Great Depression, Pandemics and more. The competition has come and gone. History has even repeated itself with the buyout of Piggly Wiggly and Kroger twice in the company’s history. For five generations, the Naifeh Family has made great efforts to stayahead of the ever changing market. The year 2020 brought unprecedented times like none other in our country and our community. Our family is committed to working hard to serve you for the next 100 years.

We are very proud of our stores and of the way we do business. It is personal for us. At our stores, the customer comes first and is always right. Our goal is to treat every customer as a valued guest in our home. This is the way a Naifeh’s customer expects to be treated from their past experiences at our stores. After over 114 years in the grocery business, our grassroots remain. The grocery gene spans five generations of Naifeh men. Starting with Uncle Joe, the importance of relationships has been instilled in the next generation.  Our family is forever grateful for you, the most loyal customers a merchant could ask for and we appreciate you more than you will ever know. 

Naifeh’s Food Stores

…Everything Good To Eat…And More…