GRAND BLANC, MI – Grocery store owner Al Kessel would close each of his commercials with "we're with you."

He cared for his employees and was always willing to help the ones who may have been struggling financially, according to friends and those who used to work for Kessel.

Kessel started his chain when he opened three stores in the early 1980s and grew Kessel Food Markets to 24 stores in Flint and Saginaw. He sold 20 of his stores in Flint and Saginaw in 1999 to Kroger. The 2,000 employees kept their jobs.

He died Friday Dec. 28 at a hospice facility in Naples, Fla. Kessel was 74. He had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer 15 months ago, a family spokesman said.

"He took care of the people the way he would want to be taken care of," said Richard Knight, who worked for Kessel for 29 years. "He went over and above."

A native of Owosso, Kessel and his wife Colette still have a home in Grand Blanc.

"He's going to be missed," said wife Colette Kessel. "He's just an amazing man, but couldn't conquer the cancer."

Kessel was known for his personable style and amusing commercials. He would detail that week's deals and the jovial man would toss the items in a cart or off camera and would close with "Save at Kessel this week. Why? Because we're with you."

"Al was a larger than life person, not only in stature, but in personality," said Linda Gobler, president and CEO of Michigan Grocers Association, where Kessel was a board member for 10 years. "He really was a wonderful individual and I'm saddened to learn of his death."

Knight was working for Kroger in Caro when he went to one of Kessel's original stores in Saginaw. Considering leaving Kroger, Knight wanted to see what kind of leader Kessel was.

Knight was impressed and left Kroger to work for Kessel – including 11 years at the Grand Blanc store.

"He sent me to the Super Bowl, so I think he kind of liked me," Knight said of Super Bowl XXVI in Minnesota in 1992. "That was fantastic. I enjoyed every minute working for Al Kessel and his family."

Kessel opened two former Kroger stores in Saginaw and one in Corunna in the early 1980s. He had previously been vice president of the now-defunct Flint-based Hamady Bros. grocery chain.

The Corunna store was later converted to a Save-A-Lot outlet.

Kroger closed the stores in 1981 after it couldn't get concessions from the Flint-based local that represented workers. It also cited Michigan's poor economy and the cost of the doing business in the state as reasons for closing the stores.

Similar reasons were given when Kroger closed all five of its Genesee County stores later that year.

Kessel bought those stores in 1982 and expanded his collection of stores in 1991 when he acquired 13 Hamady stores through U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The deal left Kessel with 20 stores, making it the largest Flint-area grocery chain.

There was a

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In 1999, Kessel sold 20 stores to Kroger and Kessel's 2,000 employees had the opportunity to stay on with Kroger.

The sale did not affect four Kessel stores that were converted to Save-A-Lot stores or closed.

The sale did not include Kessel-owned Pet Supplies Plus outlets of his Save-A-Lot grocery stores. Those stores still operate under Kessel Enterprises, which is headquartered near his Grand Blanc home.

Kessel's funeral will be Jan. 5 at Hill Funeral Home, 11723 S. Saginaw St.

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Dominic Adams is a police reporter for The Flint Journal. Contact him at dadams5@mlive.com or 810-241-8803. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.