BIRMINGHAM – The Alabama Retail Association, in cooperation with the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Business, today recognized 18 outstanding Alabama retailers representing 13 retail businesses with operations in 29 Alabama cities and 16 states as Retailers of the Year. The presentations were made at The Club in Birmingham during the 2012 Retail Day Luncheon. This marked the 13th presentation of the Retailer of the Year Awards since 1999.
Greg and David Gregerson, president and executive vice president of Gregerson’s Foods Inc., earned the Gold Retailer of the Year Award in the Annual Sales $5 Million to $20 Million category. Gregerson’s Foods is in its 44th year of existence and employs 150. Heather Brothers New, president of The Chamber, Gadsden & Etowah County, nominated the Gregersons for the award. Gregerson’s Foods has been an Alabama Retail member since 1976.
“The Gregersons won us over for having earned a reputation for stepping in and filling needs in its community,” said the Retailer of the Year judges. The business operates two grocery stores and a pharmacy: Gregerson’s Foods in Piedmont, Cash Saver Foods in Gadsden and Gregerson’s Pharmacy in Gadsden. The brothers also own SDM Mechanical, a refrigeration and maintenance company, and Absolute Fitness, a state-of-the-art fitness center in Gadsden. They also operate Gregerson’s Properties LLC, a real estate management company, which owns shopping centers in Etowah County.
“The Gregerson name is synonymous in our community for two things – business and generosity,” New said in her nomination. “Greg and David have carried that tradition proudly as they continue to uphold the name that has brought much recognition and commerce to Gadsden and Etowah County.” The Gregersons’ father, Peter, started the business in Hokes Bluff in 1969 as Warehouse Groceries Management Inc. while he worked as division president for Super Valu. At time, his boys were still in high school but worked nights and weekends at the store.
Greg Gregerson received the 2011 Bobby Austin Community Improvement Award from The Chamber Gadsden/Etowah County, and the Alabama Grocers Association named him as its 2011 Retailer of the Year.
The Retailer of the Year judges also commended Greg Gregerson for his participation in industry groups. He is the chairman-elect of the Gadsden and Etowah County chamber; secretary of the Alabama Grocers Association and chairman of its legislative committee; and serves on the board of FMI, the international association serving the food industry. He served as chairman of the Alabama Retail Association from 1998 to 1999 and continues to serve as a member of its board of directors.
New called Greg Gregerson “the driving force” behind Riverfest, a 27-year-old, two-day music festival that draws 40,000 attendees annually to Gadsden. “He gives not only as a sponsor, but donates food for the sponsor’s appreciation tent and personally volunteers to work throughout the entire event,” New said.
The Gregersons remodeled their Piedmont grocery in 2011 and opened the new cost-plus format food store in Gadsden this year. The new store is outperforming projected revenues by 50 percent and recently won first place in the Gadsden Times Readers Poll for Best Overall Grocery. Gregerson’s Pharmacy won Best Pharmacy in Gadsden and the Fitness Center placed second in the same readers’ poll.
Alabama Retail Association President Rick Brown said, “Greg and David Gregerson are retailers of the year EVERY year to their customers, employees and the Gadsden, Piedmont and Etowah County communities.”
Full list of this year’s Retailers of the Year
Previous Retailers of the Year
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