Progressive Grocer
U.S. grocery industry trade press
Background
Progressive Grocer was founded in 1922 as a trade journal serving grocery store operators and food retailers, making it one of the oldest continuously published retail trade magazines in the United States. Throughout the mid-twentieth century it changed hands among B2B media companies, including a period under Maclean Hunter Media in the 1980s. By the early 2000s it was part of the Lebhar-Friedman stable of retail trade titles. In 2018, EnsembleIQ — a Chicago-based B2B media and data company backed by private equity firm RFE Investment Partners — acquired Progressive Grocer and related retail media brands from Lebhar-Friedman. EnsembleIQ itself had been formed around 2016 through a rebrand and consolidation of several retail-focused trade media properties. The publication covers industry news, store operations, supply chain, technology, and consumer trends; it does not carry opinion content on partisan politics. Its editorial record reflects the interests of grocery retailers: it has covered Trump-era trade and regulatory actions neutrally when they benefit the industry and critically when they threaten food-cost stability, with no consistent ideological slant.
Sources
- About Us | Progressive Grocer
- B2B Media Company Lebhar-Friedman Sold To EnsembleIQ — Forbes
- EnsembleIQ Acquires Media Brands from Lebhar-Friedman — EnsembleIQ
- RFE Investment Partners Acquires EnsembleIQ — Mergr
- Grocery Industry Backs Trump's Executive Order on Tariff Reductions | Progressive Grocer
- Retail Industry Sounds Warning Note in Response to Tariffs | Progressive Grocer
- Grocers Praise Trump Administration's Revisions to Refrigeration Regulations | Progressive Grocer
- What is Progressive Grocer Magazine: Who Owns Progressive Grocers? — Marketing Food Online
Profile compiled 2026-07-11; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.