RINI, MARTIN (29 Mar. 1901-24 Aug. 1994) was the founder and head of Rini Supermarkets and the Stop-N-Shop Association who introduced and pioneered numerous concepts to the Cleveland supermarket industry.
Born in Cleveland to Charles and Rose (Capodice) Rini, Martin attended Cleveland schools and learned the grocery business from his Italian immigrant father who opened Charles Rini & Sons on the West Side in 1923.
After attending a West Coast grocers' convention where he saw prepackaged meats displayed in refrigerated cases, Rini returned home and pushed to have the family's KAMM'S CORNERS Foodtown store remodeled to introduce the self-service concept locally.
In 1948 Rini joined with several independent Cleveland grocers to form Foodtown Inc., a voluntary co-op which operated supermarkets. In 1957 brothers, Anthony, Michael and Martin Rini formed Rini Supermarkets, opening their first modern supermarket in Southland Shopping Center. Faced with the difficulties of promoting a single store, Rini met with other independent supermarket operators to form the Stop-N-Shop Association.
Rini was chairman of Stop-N-Shop and president of the company operating supermarkets under the name of Rini's Stop-N-Shop. When Rini enterprises merged with American Seaway Foods and Rego supermarkets in 1988 to form Riser Foods Inc., the Rinis owned 11 Stop-N-Shop stores. Rini retired from the food industry in 1988, but remained active in the development and management firm, Rini Realty Co., until his death.
Rini married Grace Provenzano on 30 Sept. 1930 (dec. 1990). They had no children. A ROMAN CATHOLIC, Rini is buried in Sunset Memorial Park.