Ukrop's Super Market
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Ukrop's is a family-owned and operated grocery store chain located in central Virginia. The store was founded in 1937 by Joe Ukrop. Ukrop's headquarters are located in Richmond, Virginia, along with its Central Bakery and Central Kitchen. Many locations feature a Pharmacy and/or First Market Bank. Ukrop's was named one of Fortune (magazine) 100 Best Companies to work for in the United States five years in a row, from 2000 to 2004. Currently, the company has 29 stores, mostly in the Richmond area, as well as two stores in Williamsburg, and one store in Petersburg and Fredericksburg. In early 2007 a store is scheduled to open in Roanoke. Soon to come is a second store in Short Pump, near Twin Hickory. Ukrop's also operates a specialty store called Joe's Market named after the founder Joe Ukrop. It is located in the trendy Richmond district of the Avenues at Libby and Grove. The President and CEO of the company is Bobby Ukrop, son of Joe Ukrop. James Ukrop, brother of Bobby, serves as the company Chairman.
Ukrop's was a pioneer in both loyalty marketing and meal solutions when it launched its Valued Customer® program in 1987 and its chilled prepared foods in 1989.
Ukrop's itself is well known for the high quality of groceries, the quality of their store baked goods and store produced ice cream, and their tendency to carry exotic and otherwise hard to get ingredients. They have excellent international food sections, natural and organic food sections as compared to most of their competitors.
The company was founded on the Golden Rule: treat others as you would like to be treated. This is still evident in the company today. Their focus on customer service is demonstrated by their policies of having staff carry and load all driving customers' groceries, and refusing tips for this service.
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[edit] Christian values
Ukrop's claims their Christianity influences various store policies, for example refusing to sell alcoholic beverages and remaining closed on Sundays. Other manifestations of this ethic include signs in each store that say, "Let us visit our house of worship this weekend." Stores close at 10:00 p.m. so that employees can spend more time with their families. Apocryphal stories indicate that in the past, patrons who did not have enough money to pay for groceries were trusted to leave the store with the groceries and bring in the money later based on the honor system.
Their stance towards alcohol is unique, because it may in general lead to a lower sales figures and market share than a store of their calibre might otherwise attract, although they do sell tobacco products.
Their stance on closing for Sundays is less surprising due both to the legacy of blue laws and similar practices by other Christian owned enterprises such as Chick-fil-A.
[edit] Other Corporate Ties
Ukrop's has Starbucks Coffee stores in three Ukrop’s locations – one in each Williamsburg store and one at the Chesterfield Towne Center store near Midlothian. The Ukrop's in Short Pump will soon be the fourth store to have a Starbucks.
In 1997, Ukrop's established a unique partnership with National Commerce Financial Corporation in which it co-owns 24 First Market Bank branches in Ukrop’s locations and 10 free-standing branches First Market Bank. Also, they co-own the Richmond Kickers which was bought by Bobby Ukrop for his aspiring professional soccer player son, Rob Ukrop.
[edit] Community Outreach
Each year, Ukrop's gives a minimum of 10 percent of its pre-tax profits back to the community.
Ukrop's sponsors the annual "Easter on Parade" on Monument Avenue as well as the annual Christmas Parade on Broad Street. It also sponsors one of the largest 10k events in the United States, The Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K.
Every year Ukrops offers their "Golden Gift Receipts." With these, customers first choose a charity from a list, or their church if they so please. Ukrops will then tally how much the customer spent over the past twelve months, and donate a certain percentage of that to their charity or church.
[edit] Manufacturing
The Ukrop's Food Group, a division of Ukrop's Super Markets Inc., operates a central bakery and kitchen featuring home-style baked goods and pre-pared meals. In 1976, Ukrops bought Dot's bakery, a well-known bakery in Richmond. They used the name Dot's Bakery for years before changing it to Ukrops Bakery. They pride themselves on items that can only be found at Ukrops as well as their corner stone products, such as Whitehouse Rolls, Rainbow Cookies and their Chocolate Fudge Pie.
