Food City president Steven C. Smith talks shop at Truist lecture series event

As Steven C. Smith tells it, his family's multibillion-dollar retail empire started with an ambitious leap nearly 70 years ago, and has since grown one logical step at a time.

Smith is the president and chief financial officer of K-VA-T Food Stores, the company that owns and operates the Food City grocery chain, and he was the guest speaker for Radford's spring installment of the Truist Global Capitalism Lecture Series, held April 4 at Kyle Hall.

He said his company's origin story began soon after his father, Jack Smith, completed seven years of service in the United States Navy Supply Corps, a duty that wasn't exactly his first choice. 

"He didn't like that, but he learned logistics and supply management," Steven Smith recalled. "He didn't realize that was going to be the future for him."

Following his military service, the elder Smith returned home to Grundy, Virginia, in 1955. He used his experience and training to launch an 8,000-square-foot Piggly Wiggly grocery store alongside three close shareholders: his father, uncle and cousin.

Their subsequent success led the family to acquire or build an extended stream of additional stores, and today, the Abingdon, Virginia-based K-VA-T Food Stores boasts more than 150 outlets across five states, including about 130 Food Cities plus convenience and hardware stores, as well as a 1.2 million-square-foot distribution center supported by nearly 1,000 employees.

In 2001, Steven Smith took over from his father as the company continued its expansion and crested $1 billion in sales; by 2010, that figure had doubled.

The chain broke ground in 2019 on a new Food City in Radford – which, at 47,000 square feet, is nearly six times the size of the Smiths' original Piggly Wiggly - and it's increasing its existing presence in Pulaski this year with the opening of a 54,600-square foot replacement store.

Indeed, K-VA-T Food Stores – whose name is an acronym for the chain's original service area of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee – has even outgrown its own handle, as it now operates in both Georgia and Alabama as well.

“We hold a number one or number two market share in every market we serve, and we serve over 4.2 million customers and almost 1.6 million households,” Steven Smith said in his remarks.

"By the end of this year, we will become a $4 billion company.”

In the face of such success, however, he maintains a humble designation for himself: "I'm a second-generation grocer."

While Smith’s address reviewed the past, it also looked to the future. He discussed efforts to reduce the company’s carbon footprint – by developing newer refrigeration methodologies, providing increased recycling opportunities, and implementing a transportation model to give trucks greater carrying capacity – and to share success through the stock ownership program Food City offers its employees, whom Smith said hold about 11% of the company.

He also offered advice to the business students in the audience.

“Have a laser-focused, purpose-driven business plan,” Smith told them. “Surround yourself with people more knowledgeable than yourself who have a passion for what they do.

“Choose your partners wisely and help them understand your business. Communicate, communicate, communicate,” he said. “Stand by your people … show them appreciation, trust and respect.

“Don’t be afraid to take a calculated risk – the keyword here is ‘calculated.’ You've got to take risks; you’ll never get forward if you don’t.

“Remember to truly embrace the great days and enjoy, because you’re going to have to go through a few tough ones. And I think anybody who’s been in business will certainly understand that,” Smith said.

Smith's presentation was introduced by Radford senior Luke Goodie, a management major from Honaker, Virginia, whose history with K-VA-T is also about to expand.

Goodie worked at the Food City outlets in both Radford and Lebanon, Virginia, throughout his college career, first as a stocker in 2020, and within two years, he became a closing store manager.

Last summer, he undertook an internship with the company, working in the accounting department and dealing with such aspects as accounts payable, beer and wine sales, employee apparel, work orders and warehouse invoices.

After he graduates in May, Goodie will begin a full-time position with K-VA-T.

"I'll be an assets analyst," he explained recently. "What they're wanting to do is have me go along to Food City stores and help create a new database – an in-house inventory system – because we contract that out currently. I'll be making an inventory, not of the products they sell but the equipment they use. Computers and registers and things like that.

"They've always done right by me, and I've just had great experiences with them," Goodie said.