Last updated on October 25th, 2024
T.J. Leonard has been named president of Tom Leonard’s Farmer’s Market, a farm fresh food store in the Richmond, Virginia, area.
The son of store founder Tom Leonard and a grandson of retailer Stew Leonard Sr., he will oversee day-to-day operations of the store, as well as planning and finance.
“T.J. might have been born into retailing, but he’s spent the past 20 years learning from some of the best grocers in the industry,” said Tom Leonard, who opened Tom Leonard’s Farmer’s Market in 2004. “I am confident T.J. will be an excellent leader for our 65 team members at Tom Leonard’s, and I know our customers will continue to be delighted by our store’s fresh offerings and customer service.”
Leonard has spent a lifetime at his father’s side learning the business. Before Tom Leonard’s opened, he learned to merchandise a pumpkin patch and Christmas tree lot in its parking lot and spent time with the construction team learning about store design and equipment. Once the store opened, he spent his summers during college working in every department, from cashier and receiver to fish cutter and fresh mozzarella maker.
“I’m excited for my new role at Tom Leonard’s,” Leonard shared. “I can’t wait to see the customers who have been shopping with us since I was a teenager, and I’m looking forward to reconnecting with our longtime team members.”
Before he was appointed president, Leonard served as the VP of merchandising at Tom Leonard’s and has held positions with Safeway and Sprouts Farmer’s Market. While at Safeway in the Washington, D.C., metro area, Leonard was a store manager and a non-perishable field merchandiser, executing marketing efforts in all non-perishable departments.
In 2021, he accepted his most recent position as senior director of produce and floral for Sprouts in Atlanta. In this role, Leonard planned and directed all aspects of the produce and floral departments at 91 Sprouts’ East Coast stores across 11 states. He also spent summers during high school working at Stew Leonard’s Farm Fresh Food stores in Connecticut, which is operated by T.J.’s uncle, Stew Leonard Jr., and his aunts, Beth Leonard Hollis and Jill Leonard Tavello.
[RELATED: Stew Leonard’s Introduce New Recipes Through Invafresh Platform]
