Sidney Applebaum was an American businessman and a co-founder of Rainbow Foods. He was also a renowned storyteller who loved sharing his memories of childhood, his business career in his life.
Sidney Applebaum Biography
Sidney Applebaum was born to Oscar and Bertha Applebaum in Saint Paul, Minnesota on February 28, 1924. He was the youngest son and the second youngest child of nine years old. His parents immigrated to the United States from Russia during their honeymoon. Oscar Applebaum sold products door to door in St. Paul, Minnesota from a horse-drawn wagon. Oscar opened a fruit stand on the corner of St. Peter and 7th Streets in downtown St. Paul, taking out a $65 loan from his eldest son. This fruit stand was Applebaum’s first food market. As a child, Sid Applebaum packed soap, bagged rice, worked as a boxer, and delivered fruit and groceries for his father’s fruit stand. Applebaum Graduated from Humboldt Senior High School in west Saint Paul and continued to grow the family business.
Sidney Applebaum was married to Lauren Smith in 1946 who was apple to his eyes. He enjoys playing golf with his children. He also spends his best winter in the sun in Palm Springs, California, enjoying among his family and friends.
Sidney Applebaum was a renowned storyteller and loved sharing his memories of childhood, his business career in his life.
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By 1979, the family business included about 30 Applebaum stores in the Metro area and one in Duluth. In 1979, the chain was sold to the National Tea Co., and Applebaum continued to work for them. The chain was subsequently sold to Gateway Foods. Sid Applebaum and Gateway Foods CEO D.B. Reinhart expanded the Applebaum supermarket chain to the second largest grocery store chain in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area by adopting Applebaum’s idea to launch Rainbow Foods by rebranding some of the old Applebaum stores. The network was founded on October 1, 1983.
Sidney Applebaum served as president of Rainbow Foods through several ownership changes until 1996. In 1997, Applebaum bought four Holiday Foods stores in Bloomington, Fridley, Plymouth and Burnsville. Eighteen months later, the stores were sold to Supervalu and converted to Cub Foods stores.
In recent days, Sidney Applebaum fell ill and used a walker. However, Sid Applebaum worked less than a week before his death in Minnetonka on August 6, 2016 at the age of 92. Applebaum and his wife Lorraine would celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary on September 17th. 2016. In addition to his wife, son, and daughter, survivors include another daughter, Nancy Rosenberg of Minnetonka, eight grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Sidney Applebaum has won numerous awards and has been actively involved in the Twin Cities community. His children said he helped manage the St. Paul Winter Carnival and Olympic Festival.
