Ross Purdy, vice president of center store operations for Food City was recently inducted into Private Label Manufacturers Association’s Private Label Hall of Fame.

PLMA created the Private Label Hall of Fame in 2006 to recognize individuals who have “made significant contributions to the growth and development of the global private label industry.” Inductees are announced during the association’s annual Meeting & Leadership Conference in Scottsdale, AZ and include retailers, manufacturers, and pioneers. The Hall of Fame now boasts more than 75 members, including 9 new inductees for the class of 2025. Purdy was inducted into the Lifetime Achievement category.

“We are so proud for Ross to be honored with this distinction. He is a wonderful asset to our Food City team, as he works hard every day to bring the best in quality, variety, and price to our Food City customers,” said Steven C. Smith, Food City president and chief executive officer.

With more than 40 year of industry experience, Purdy is responsible for the oversight of all center store operations for Food City’s 159 retail chain locations. This includes private label sales, supervisor of the category management staff, space management, procurement, grocery supervisors, and coordination of the consumer product goods partners. In his current role, he developed and executed a new private brand strategy designed to enhance brand focus, working closely with several of the strategic private label partners to enhance performance. Purdy has also proudly mentored a number of new associates and category managers regarding private label brands and sales strategies to drive shares.

“I’ve had the privilege of working with some fantastic people during my career and am proud to watch them grow and develop and I appreciate all the opportunities that I have been given,” says Purdy.

According to PLMA’s website, “the Hall of Fame represents some of the most successful and familiar retail and wholesale chains, store brand manufacturers and suppliers, and companies and organizations closely associated with the private label industry, such as trade press, quality assurance and testing firms, market researchers, and management consultants, among others.” 

Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores (Food City’s parent company) operates 159 retail outlets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, north Georgia, and Alabama.