Abingdon, Va. _ Food City officials recently named Ross Purdy as the company’s new Vice President of Center Store Operations.   Purdy, formerly of Daymon Worldwide brings more than 35 years of industry experience to the Food City team.

“Ross has worked in grocery retail, consumer package goods and private brands with a number of leading retailers domestically and internationally”, says Steven C. Smith, Food City President and Chief Executive Officer.  “I am confident that he will prove to be a valuable asset to our company and that his service in this key position will enable us to continue to advance and improve upon our center store operations.”

It was announced in recent weeks that Food City is purchasing Bi-Lo stores in the area, including the one’s in East Ridge.

Prior to joining the Food City team, Purdy served in a number of positions with Daymon Worldwide, gaining experience in grocery, wholesale, mass and dollar channels.  

His new responsibilities with Food City will include the oversight of all center store operations, supervision of the category management staff, space management team, grocery supervisors and coordination of the consumer product goods partners. 

“I am very excited to be part of the Food City team, a first class growing organization”, said Purdy.  “Food City is highly focused on doing the right things for the customer and serving their needs, which makes it very clear on what our priorities are every day.”

Purdy holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business from Western Kentucky University and participated in Harvard’s General Management Program. 

Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores operates 105 retail food outlets throughout the tri-state regions of Southeast Kentucky, Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee.  They just recently announced the acquisition of 29 BI-LO supermarkets in Chattanooga, Tennessee and northern Georgia.