Tuesday, April 17, 2018

The History of Moo & Oink Grocery Chain of Chicago, Illinois.

Moo & Oink was a southside Chicago-based grocery store chain and wholesaler that catered to the inner-city community and south suburbs.
Originally named the Calumet Meat Company, the company was renamed Moo & Oink in 1976. Moo & Oink had three stores in Chicago and one in Hazel Crest.
It became well known for its odd late-night television commercials that ran in the 1980s and mid-1990s, usually featuring dancing people in cow and pig costumes. The commercials often featured a jingle that started off with: "Moo and Oink! Moo Moo Moo!" and eventually ended with a famous sign-off, "Moooooooooooooo & Oink!"

MOO & OINK 1987 TV COMMERCIAL

The First Isle in Moo & Oink, 2004.
In 2005, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler sang the Moo and Oink jingle on the "Weekend Update" portion of Saturday Night Live to prove to Scott Podsednik that they were native Chicago White Sox fans.

MOO & OINK JINGLE

Moo & Oink is famous for its Chicago-style hot links and hand-cleaned chitlins. 

In April 2010, they revealed a new company logo, replacing the classic cartoonish cow and pig logo with an animated but realistic-looking animal logo. 
All Moo & Oink stores closed in 2011, after the company went into Chapter 7 bankruptcy, though there was interest in buying and resurrecting the company. By the end of the year, the brand and trademark were sold to Best Chicago Meat, and the stores remained unsold. 


Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

1 comment:

  1. The first four stores were WTTP (Wholesale to the Public) Meat Plants with just a handful of grocery items. Examples: Southern Plantation Corn Meal, Lousiana Hot Sauce, Bread, Entemann's Pastries, and spices. Moo & Oink bought a grocery store in Hazel Crest and names it Moo & Oink and more in 2003.

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