Tom Leonard did not pick out the location of his store due to a careful study of demographics and growth patterns; rather he relied on his intuition. “I was out one day at Best Buy in western Henrico and drove around back and saw a parcel available and immediately bought it,” said Tom Leonard. This spur of the moment purchase has paid off as the store has experienced a 25% increase in business since opening and continues to attract shoppers from around the greater Richmond area in droves.
Tom Leonard himself is no stranger to running a grocery store, though this time it is his own. Tom is the son of Stew Leonard, founder of the namesake Stew Leonard’s three-store grocery chain in Connecticut. His father’s markets make $300 million a year by fawning over its intensely loyal customers.
Tom remains as committed to the mantra of “Retail is Detail.” Employees arrive two to three hours before the store opens daily to arrange the products and Tom makes sure that every aspect of the presentation is taken care of properly. Tom has made a commitment to the idea that “We do it fresh daily.” As part of keeping in stock the freshest products, Tom Leonard’s Farmers Market buys many locally grown products for its shelves. Every member of the staff at Tom Leonard’s is committed to two rules:
“ Rule 1: The customer is always right!
Rule 2: If the customer is ever wrong
reread Rule 1.”
Beyond providing for the customer Tom also invest heavily in training for his staff and sends two of his managers every quarter to work with Dale Carnegie Instructors here in Henrico County. “Very few people in Henrico I believe know the quality of instructors they have here in the county,” said Tom. “Having a resource like this is something that other business owners in the county should definitely take advantage of.” With his first expansion planned for next year, competitors studying his business methods, and more and more customers coming his way Tom Leonard has definitely found his market growing in leaps and bounds. All due to a simple gut feeling he had about the location and a boundless commitment to his customers.
The Fresh Market opened its latest location March 8, 2006 on Parham Road in Henrico County. “After looking at the demographics and traffic patterns we knew this would be a great location,” said Eric Blaesing, Director of Community Relations for The Fresh Market.
The store provides its community with high-quality perishables, exceptional customer service, and specialty grocery items in an old-world European market atmosphere. The cozy setting features classical music, Italian tile floors, antiques, and soft lighting. They focus on finding the freshest fruits and vegetables and, in the tradition of old-world markets, premium meat and fresh seafood is hand-selected by the customer and then hand-packaged by the butcher.
The Fresh Market opened its first store in Greensboro, N.C. in 1982. It was the fulfillment of a dream for the founders, Ray and Beverly Berry, to provide customers high-quality products in a warm and friendly atmosphere with a high level of customer service.
The small size of the store, high degree of customer service and wide selection of fresh products allow many of the customers to shop almost daily for their food needs, thereby making their mealtime offerings more wholesome and better tasting.
The Fresh Market currently operates more than 50 stores in the Southeast and Midwest (the Henrico location represents their fourth location in Virginia), with plans for continued expansion into areas that desire the old-time value of the store in their community. With the opening of this store approximately 120 employees were hired locally by the company. “Everyone we worked with from the Henrico County Government were extremely fair and willing to help a newcomer to the area with an extremely conducive business environment” said Mr. Blaesing.
This family-owned, privately held company is committed to their founding goals: to provide a unique and wholesome shopping experience at a reasonable price and to be a destination for those who enjoy cooking and good eating!
