Ukrop’s Super Markets started with just one small store in South Richmond, a Great Depression-era business venture made possible by mortgaging the family farm for $1,000.
After Jim Ukrop joined the family business in 1960 as a fresh graduate, he convinced his father to open a second store. It was the first of many expansions that made Ukrop’s the leading grocery chain in Richmond, with dozens of locations throughout the area.
It also set Ukrop on a path to an influential role in the civic life of his hometown, giving him the resources and connections to shape Richmond’s economic and cultural growth for decades.
Ukrop died Friday evening at age 89, according to his family. His health had been deteriorating for some time and his death was not unexpected.
He was “one of Richmond’s most important economic and civic leaders in our lifetime,” according to former Venture Richmond executive Jack Berry, who tapped Ukrop to co-chair his 2016 mayoral campaign.
“He didn’t just write checks. He showed up,” Berry said. “He was personally involved in community initiatives throughout the city. And he did it with kindness, humility and love for this city.”
A graduate of John Marshall High School and William & Mary, Ukrop became president of the grocery chain in 1974, a title he held for two decades until it was passed to his younger brother, Bobby, who also took an active role in the management and growth of the company.
When asked to explain their grocery success over the years, the Ukrops often point to the golden rule, friendliness and commitment to customer service. In a 1991 interview, Jim Ukrop said the goal was to make people “feel better when they leave than when they come in.”
Food Lion has gradually gained a larger share of the Richmond area’s grocery sector. Ukrop’s sold its 25 stores to Giant-Carlisle in 2010 for about $140 million. The stores switched to the Martin’s brand after the sale, but Ukrop’s remained a small food manufacturing company. Ukrop’s products are still sold today by other retailers and at the Ukrop Indoor Market in Henrico County.
It’s not just the supermarket’s famous rainbow cookies, chicken salad and White House rolls that have made the Ukrops one of Richmond’s most prominent families.
Jim and Bobby’s parents, Joseph and Jacquelin Ldevia Ukrop, were among the first businessmen chosen for induction into the Richmond Business Hall of Fame.
Jim Ukrop also served as president of First Market Bank, a supermarket bank branch that began in Ukrop’s stores. During his post-grocery career, he later co-founded New Richmond Ventures, which sought to invest in promising local startups.
“He was a man of action. He took risks,” said Ted Ukrop, one of Jim’s sons.
One of his mantras was “actions speak louder than words,” according to Scott Ukrop, another son.
Outside of his professional and civic work, his main hobby was golf.
“He used to say, ‘I work for fun and I play golf for tension,'” Ted Ukrop said.
Jim met his wife, Bobbie, at William & Mary. A member of the class of 1960, he was deeply involved with his alma mater, serving two terms on the school’s Board of Visitors.
Jim Ukrop has played several other influential roles in promoting Richmond’s business community and charitable causes, including supporting the city’s public schools and the education-focused nonprofit Communities in Schools. He particularly focused on efforts to recruit talented teachers to work in Richmond public schools.
“Jim’s passion was to help other people pursue their passion, especially urban entrepreneurs, public school children and community builders,” Berry said. “He believed in diversity and inclusion before they were commonly adopted in the corporate sector… He believed in wealth creation. It was the key to the future of many people who had been left behind.”
Zarina Fazaldin, born in Kenya, educated in India and now with a career in real estate focused on restoring the city’s historic homes, is a Richmond resident who credits Ukrop with playing a major role in her life. She worked as a waitress after graduating from VCU, but dreamed of starting her own business. Getting advice and loans from Ukrop, she says, helped her achieve this.
Fazaldin still keeps a handwritten note on Ukrop’s stationery that she received in 1995. In it, Ukrop urges her to “remember to stay focused on your dream.”
“He did a lot not only for me, but also with others,” Fazaldin said. “But he never talked about it.”
One of his primary civic interests was the revitalization of downtown Richmond.
In the early 1980s, he helped form the downtown booster group Richmond Renaissance. He helped found the Richmond Folk Festival, one of the city’s most popular annual traditions. He was also a founding director of the Richmond Performing Arts Alliance, which spearheaded a fundraising campaign for what is now the Dominion Energy Center for the Performing Arts.
It wasn’t an easy project, said John W. Bates III, a longtime friend of Ukrop’s who worked closely with him on the theatrical effort. As many volunteer-led efforts do, Bates said, they could have collapsed when things got tough. Because of Ukrop, he said, that was not the case.
“He kind of feels like he wants to help the underdogs,” Bates said. “In the 70s and 80s, the city was an underdog. »
His forays into urban issues sometimes earned him criticism from critics who characterized him as a member of the white business elite seeking to use wealth to achieve their ends. Despite this criticism, he insisted he was simply trying to make Richmond a better place.
“I want to do everything we can to help the city reach its full potential – economic, social and political. It benefits our business,” Ukrop told a Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter in 1993, explaining why he helped David Hicks defeat controversial incumbent Joe Morrissey in that year’s Democratic primary for commonwealth’s attorney.
With a Baptist leaning, the Ukrops were known for their morals and values. Family grocery stores were closed on Sundays and did not sell alcohol. In the mid-1990s, Jim Ukrop got into a feud with shock jock Howard Stern after he urged advertisers to boycott Stern’s radio show because of its sexually explicit content.
“He had the courage of his convictions, perhaps without always thinking about the consequences,” Scott Ukrop said. “It was always hard right over easy wrong.”
One of his most recent civic efforts was helping lead opposition to proposals to bring a casino to Richmond. He argued that gambling would not bring the economic benefits promised by casino proponents.
In a 2009 interview with RTD, both brothers said they didn’t particularly enjoy the public attention that comes with being Ukrop. The perception that the Ukrops were agents of power wielding influence, Jim Ukrop said at the time, was “troubling.”
“Would the community be better off if I just went fishing?” he said.
Contact journalist Graham Moomaw at gmoomaw@richmonder.org.
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VCU, Venture Richmond and the Ukrop family, all mentioned in this story, are donors to The Richmonder, which is community-funded. Our judgments on current events are made independently and not based on donor support. Read our editorial policy hereand discover the funding of The Richmonder here.
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