Numerous customers lined up with buggies early Wednesday, eager to get inside the new Harps Food Stores when the business opened its doors. Scott Curtis, left, of Benton talks with cashier Christopher Owens and sacker Linda Devinney as Curtis becomes the first customer to check out at the new Harps Food Stores at 1515 Arkansas 5 in Benton on Wednesday. The store's grand opening included free bread, salad dressing, gifts and Harps coupons. Related photos inside.(Courier photo by Matt Burks)
Participating in a 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony were Harps CEO and Chairman of the Board Roger Collins, Harps President and Chief Operations Officer Kim Eskew, numerous Benton Area Chamber of Commerce members and elected Benton officials.
After the ribbon-cutting, the doors were opened to the public and the first 200 customers were treated to numerous gifts, including free bread, salad dressing and Harps coupons for additional first-day savings.
Eskew said Benton has the 63rd Harps store and noted that the city was chosen because of growth in the area. The store is at 1515 Arkansas 5, at the corner of Scott-Salem Road.
Eskew did not offer a cost to build the new store, but said it was a 30-week project. He said the building was finished a few weeks before Wednesday, but three weeks were spent on training employees.
“We had been looking at Benton because of growth when we became aware of the property for sale,” Eskew said. “We think this store is conveniently located, and it is an ideal area for people to shop. Our prices are competitive, and our quality is second to none. Even our [deli] meat is cut here on site, and it has no solution or additives in it. We have very high quality products.”
Eskew said the store also features “gas pumps that allow shoppers to earn discounts on gas purchases. When selected items are purchased inside the store, the customer receives a receipt that will allow that customer to purchase gas for a discounted amount at the Harps pumps.”
Benton Mayor Rick Holland has long believed this store will positively impact the city.
“The city’s considerations went beyond simply the tax-base increase, but also the attempt to stop, or stem the leakage of, tax monies going to other cities as well as the potential growth in the area,” Holland said. “With the sales projections given by Harps, the city will receive about $120,000 in sales tax alone a year from this one development.”
Holland said the $120,00-per-year increase in sales tax collections will be portioned out including around $20,000 to go into the quarter-cent special street fund; another $20,000 will go the parks department; and the majority of the balance will support the police, fire and communications departments.
Karen Scott, the city’s new finance director, said she is optimistic about what Harps can bring to the city.
“I believe this will keep people shopping in Benton and keeping their money here locally,” Scott said. “A lot of the city budget is funded by the sales tax revenue, so shopping here definitely benefits residents of Benton. Not to mention this helps people who were without a job before Harps came here.”
Eskew said between 80 and 85 people have been hired so far in the Benton Harps store, but encouraged people to continue applying. He said all the stores are “constantly looking and hiring.”
The Harps chain was founded by Harvard and Floy Harp in 1930, according to the company’s Web site, www.harpsfood.com. They started the first store with $500 in cash that Harvard had saved while working in the citrus industry in California. The first store was Harps Cash Grocery and was located in Springdale. During the next 34 years, they remodeled, expanded, and moved to bigger buildings as their business continued to grow.
By the early 1950s, Harvard and Floy’s oldest son, Don, had joined them in the business. In 1964 Harps became a small chain when the second store was opened in North Springdale. By the mid-’60s, two other sons, Gerald and Reland Harp, were involved in making the company a success. Don Harp ran the company from the late ’60s until 1994 when Gerald Harp took over as president. The company purchased Don Harp’s interest in 1995. Roger Collins, the current chairman and CEO, became the president in 2000. In 2001 the company’s employee stock ownership plan purchased all the outstanding stock from the Harp family and management and the company became 100 percent employee-owned. Since 2001 the employees have seen their stock price more than double. Participants in the plan were allocated more than 10 percent of their pay in stock in their accounts for the year-ended August 2004.
Harps has 63 stores in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. The company strategy has been to differentiate itself from competition based on quality, service and freshness at competitive prices. The company promotes no solution/no sodium-added fresh beef, pork and chicken. With Green Giant produce, customized cakes, Martha Harp fried chicken, doughnuts and rolls, the Harps’ name signifies quality. Combining that image with employee-owned service, Harps has become one of the grocery industry’s most recognized independent chains and is a national success story for grocery companies competing against large discount grocery chains.
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