James E. “Jim” Ukrop, who helped transform his family’s small Richmond grocery operation into one of Virginia’s best-known regional supermarket chains, died Sept. 25 at age 89.
For supermarket executives who knew the Ukrop’s story, his legacy goes beyond the nearly 30 stores the family eventually operated. Jim Ukrop helped build a retail culture around customer service, fresh food, employee relationships and community involvement—principles that remain relevant as grocers search for ways to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Ukrop joined the family business in 1960 after graduating from William & Mary. His parents, Joseph and Jacquelin Ukrop, had opened the original store on Richmond’s Hull Street in 1937. After joining the company, Jim convinced his father to open a second location, beginning an expansion that would eventually make Ukrop’s a dominant regional supermarket operator.
He became president in 1974, a position he held for two decades. Working alongside his younger brother, Robert “Bobby” Ukrop, Jim helped establish the company as something different from a conventional supermarket chain.
When asked to explain the company’s success, the Ukrops frequently pointed to the Golden Rule, friendliness and customer service. In a 1991 interview cited by The Richmonder, Jim described the objective simply: to make customers “feel better when they leave than when they come in.”
Ukrop’s Philosophy Was Reflected Throughout the Stores
Ukrop’s became known for its service-oriented employees and distinctive food offerings. The company also invested heavily in prepared foods and bakery operations, creating products that helped make the supermarket itself part of the Richmond community. As an alumnus of the University of Virginia and frequent tailgater at UVA games, I was always struck when Richmonders at their tailgates seemed to put their Ukrops shopping bags on their tables—as if to say, “I’m from Richmond.” Because in many ways being a Richmonder meant shopping at Ukrop’s.
The company’s culture was also unusual in the industry. Ukrop’s stores were traditionally closed on Sundays and didn’t sell alcohol—decisions rooted in the family’s values rather than conventional supermarket economics.
Those practices helped create an unusually strong connection between the stores and their customers. And as a testament to their beliefs, when they sold their business to Ahold Delhaize USA they gave up more money by refusing to allow the Ukrop name to be used if it was open on Sundays or sold alcohol. Some might think this was foolish, but the Ukrop family believed in their principles, and stood by them.
Their connection was evident even in the small moments. The Richmonder recalled one story from a customer who saw Jim Ukrop bagging groceries during the Christmas season. When a customer became upset over not being able to use a credit card to purchase corn, he walked out of the store. Ukrop retrieved the corn and followed the customer outside, telling the witness afterward that the man deserved to have a happy holiday dinner.
The supermarket business, however, was changing.
As competition intensified in Richmond, including growing pressure from Food Lion and other larger operators, the economics of maintaining Ukrop’s high-service model became increasingly difficult. In 2009, the family announced the sale of 25 supermarkets to Giant-Carlisle for approximately $140 million. The stores subsequently became Martin’s locations.
The sale marked the end of Ukrop’s as a major supermarket chain, but not the end of Jim Ukrop’s influence on the grocery industry—or on Richmond.
After the sale, the family continued its food-manufacturing operations, while Jim moved increasingly into banking, venture investing and civic development. He co-founded New Richmond Ventures, investing in and mentoring emerging businesses.
His approach to business remained consistent. His son Scott described his father’s “North Star” as treating people the way you would want to be treated. He also recalled Jim as a “true visionary” who studied businesses and ideas in other cities and looked for ways to bring those lessons back to Richmond.
That same philosophy extended into his civic work.
Ukrop’s Involvement Went Beyond Grocery
Former Venture Richmond leader Jack Berry described Ukrop as a person who “didn’t just write checks. He showed up.” Berry said Ukrop was personally involved in community initiatives throughout Richmond and approached that work with “kindness, humility and love for this city.”
For the supermarket industry, however, perhaps the clearest part of Jim Ukrop’s legacy remains the simple idea behind the company he helped build: the customer should leave the store feeling better than when they arrived.
At a time when supermarkets compete on price, technology, convenience, private brands and increasingly sophisticated data, that idea can sound almost old-fashioned.
But Ukrop’s demonstrated that it could also be a powerful competitive strategy.
Jim Ukrop spent more than five decades in business. His stores are no longer on Richmond street corners under the Ukrop’s banner, but the retail philosophy he helped establish—service, fresh food, personal relationships and a commitment to the communities a supermarket serves—continues to influence the way many independent and regional grocers think about their businesses.
And in Richmond, the name Ukrop remains closely associated with a grocery store that became much more than a place to buy food.
Speaking as someone that has called on Ukrop’s many times as a broker, distributor, and manufacturer’s representative, I don’t know a single person who didn’t love calling on Ukrop’s. The atmosphere and respect that Jim and Bobby created is missed in this industry today.