Buttrey Food & Drug was a chain of grocery stores founded in Havre, Montana and formerly headquartered in Great Falls, Montana. The company was founded in 1896 as a chain of department stores branded Buttrey Department Store. The company opened grocery stores in 1935 and sold off its department store division following a 1966 acquisition by grocery company The Jewel Companies, Inc. Jewel was sold to American Stores in 1984 and Buttrey was sold off as separate company in 1990. The company was sold to its main competitor, Boise, Idaho based Albertsons, in January 1998 and the Buttrey name was retired. At that time, Buttrey was operating 44 stores in Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota with a revenue of US$391.4 million. As of today, most former Buttrey stores continue to operate under the Alb