Utah businessman and philanthropist L.S. “Sam” Skaggs died at his home in Salt Lake City on March 21 at the age of 89, but the impact of the Skaggs family and its entrepreneurial skills left a footprint in Southeast Idaho. Sam Skagg's grandfather founded the first Skaggs store in the nation in American Falls back in 1915.

    From that humble beginning, the Skaggs family expanded their operations and opened stores in Blackfoot, Idaho Falls, Rupert and Burley. By 1928, the Skaggs holdings expanded again and became the foundation of the Safeway grocery store chain.

    Money from Safeway stock after he resigned from the company was used by Sam Skaggs' father, L.S., Sr. to purchase four Payless Drug stores from his brother, L.L. Skaggs. L.L. went on to form a partnership with others to create Osco which was short for Owners Service Co.

    In the relatively recent past, Pocatello has been home to both Osco and Payless drug stores. They have since closed.

    Payless Drug which was located at the Foothill Plaza next to the recently vacated Winco Foods, is now Big Lots. The Osco location is now Pocatello City Hall.

    And that original Skaggs in American Falls is home to the Power County Senior Citizen Center.

    According to a history of the Skaggs family, when Sam Skaggs grandfather, Samuel M. Skaggs, moved to American Falls in 1915, he decided to open a grocery store that — unlike his competitors who used credit accounts for customers — would be cash only. The patriarch of the Skaggs family also realized he needed lower prices to make his new model of business successful and the railroad provided the answer.

    In those days large lots were determined by a fraction of a railroad carload and because American Falls was a stop on the Union Pacific Railroad, Sam Skaggs saw it as an opportunity to buy in bulk and sell items for less than the competition. It worked and became business model for expansion taken up by his sons.

    Last week's passing of Sam Skaggs in Salt Lake City marks the end of the original lineage of Skaggs with roots extending into Idaho.

    Sam Skaggs inherited his father's Payless empire when L.S., Sr. died in 1950 at 54. By 1978, Sam Skaggs had expanded the number of stores from 11 to 202 and 39 super-centers in 21 states with over $1 billion in sales. Before his retirement in 1995, Sam Skaggs was head of one of the world’s largest food companies, American Stores, with 1,700 stores in 26 states and annual revenue of

$22.2 billion.

    The Skaggs family formed the ALSAM Foundation and it has given millions to health and science research through scholarships and the building of research centers at universities. In Salt Lake City, they included the Skaggs Catholic Center, a 57-acre complex that houses Juan Diego Catholic High School, St. John the Baptist Elementary and Middle School, and the Guardian Angel Daycare.

    Foundation contributions also helped found the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California, San Diego.

    The Power County Historical Museum in American Falls contains information about the original Skaggs store in that community.

    “I have it all in a booklet,” said Frances Petell, historian for the museum.

    An advertisement from a March 16, 1916 issue of the American Falls Press states: “Our policy of giving you standard goods at the lowest possible price will be maintained to an extent that will surprise you.”

    ( A March 22 story in The Salt Lake Tribune contributed to this story.)