The Best Store in Town
When Jack Smith opened his first store in Grundy, VA on November 17, 1955 – a Piggly Wiggly supermarket – he had a simple goal in mind: “Run the best store in town.”
When his son Steve Smith opened the company’s 100th store earlier this month in Rogersville, TN, he did so with the very same objective: “Run the best store in town.” Very little else in the business and in the industry has remained unchanged. Steve is the current CEO and President K-VA-T Food Stores, and Daymon is helping him keep his father’s promise to run the best store in town.
On the occasion of the 100-store milestone, Daymon associates were on hand to present a commemorative plaque to Steve Smith during the open house reception. “It’s an honor and pleasure to work with the management team at K-VA-T; they truly support their corporate brands,” said Raymond Barley, Director of Business Development at K-VA-T and one of the Daymon emissaries on hand to celebrate with the Smith family. “They support their brands because of the incremental profits they generate, and because they create a point of difference from their competition, but most importantly because they know their primary consumers need a quality alternative to the high priced national brands.”
Today K-VA-T operates 100 supermarkets in three states – Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee – and its goal everywhere remains: “Run the best store in town.” In 1995 K-VA-T’s Corporate Brand share was 6%; in the Fall of 2008 it was 25%.
Steve Smith became President of K-VA-T in 1993 and CEO in 2001. His father Jack passed away in 2005. But his legacy is alive and well – his son is running the best store in town.