Food City Information
K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc. is the corporate name of a supermarket chain operating in three states under the name Food City. This privately held, family-owned company has grown over the years by expansion and acquisition. With 12 units in southeastern Kentucky, 22 units in southwest Virginia and 60 units in northeast Tennessee, K-VA-T is an acronym of its trade area: Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee. The 94-store chain serves a current trade area population of over 2.5 million people and over 980,000 households. The company also operates four Super Dollar Discount Foods limited assortment locations in Wytheville, Abingdon and Hillsville, Virginia as well as Prestonsburg, KY.
The Food City banner dates back to 1918 and a store opened in Greeneville, TN but K-VA-T Food Stores real beginning was in 1955 when Jack C. Smith (chairman of the board), his father Curtis, cousin Ernest and uncle Earl opened their first store in Grundy, VA. Since that time, Food City has grown in leaps by acquisitions of several Piggly Wiggly operations in Southwest VA and Eastern KY, along with Quality Foods/Food City, White Stores, Winn Dixie and BI-LO units in east Tennessee. The company has also grown steadily by expansion into new areas, filling in gaps in the trade area with new units and always remodeling and replacing current units to stay on the cutting edge of grocery technology, product selection and consumer demand.
K-VA-T Food Stores follows national marketing trends. “In the last five or six years,” Steve Smith, President and CEO said, “we have branched out into the pharmacy and fuel businesses.” The company has 68 pharmacies and 50 fuel stations.
The company is very community-oriented and involved in local efforts as well as Food City initiatives like Apples for the Students, in which the company has donated over 10 million dollars in equipment to schools in the K-VA-T trade area. Food City also partners with farmers in Southwest VA and Northeast TN to bring local produce to its customers which helps local farmers and satisfies customer demand.
K-VA-T Food Stores owns and operates the 900,000+ square-foot Food City Distribution Center, located in Abingdon, VA. The company also offers customers private label choices under the labels “Food City”, “Food Club”, “Paws”, “Valu Time”, “Full Circle”, “Top Care”, “World Classic”, “Academix”, “Domestix”, “Electrix” and “Easy Clix” through its participation in the Topco cooperative. A subsidiary arm of K-VA-T Food Stores, Misty Mountain Spring Water, L.L.C., bottles spring water for sale (over sixteen million gallons in 2005) in Food City stores and under private label for other customers.
K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc. continues to grow and share its growth with associates. “About 16% of the company is owned by our associates, and that continues to grow every year through our profit-sharing plan,” Steve Smith said.
K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc. ranked 41st on the latest (2006) Progressive Grocer's list of America's 50 Largest Supermarket Chains, 57th on Supermarket News "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" (January, 2006) with over one billion dollars in sales (in 2002) and 269th on Forbes Magazine's "List of the largest privately-held companies in 2006" .