Harps Food Stores Inc. Chairman and CEO Kim Eskew will retire effective Jan. 15, 2027, concluding a nearly five-decade career that began on the sales floor, and the board has selected President J. Max Van Hoose, grandson of founders Harvard and Floy Harp, to succeed him as chairman and CEO.
Eskew joined the Springdale, Arkansas-based grocer on Aug. 15, 1977, as a part-time stocker and cashier while attending the University of Arkansas. After earning his degree in 1980, he advanced through roles including store manager, district manager, VP of marketing, executive VP and president, and was named CEO in 2016. Under his leadership, the employee-owned company has grown to 177 stores in eight states, roughly doubling its footprint over the past decade through new stores and acquisitions, including this year’s 18-store Dyer Foods deal that carried the banner into Tennessee and Kentucky.
“It has been the honor of my life to spend my career at Harps, beginning on the sales floor and ultimately having the privilege of leading this company,” Eskew said. “I am incredibly proud of what our associates have built together, and I am especially grateful to have led a company owned by the very people who make it successful.”
Eskew’s tenure spanned the most consequential milestone in company history: the 2001 transition to 100 percent employee ownership, which made Harps the largest employee-owned company in Arkansas. He received NGA’s Thomas K. Zaucha Entrepreneurial Excellence Award in 2024.
Successor returns a family member to top post
Van Hoose, president since 2022 and previously EVP, holds an industrial engineering degree from the University of Arkansas and an MBA from the University of Kansas. His appointment returns a member of the founding family to the company’s top role for the first time since the ESOP transition.
“Kim’s leadership, vision and commitment to our associates have helped shape Harps into the company it is today,” Van Hoose said. “His influence can be seen throughout every part of our organization. I am honored by the Board’s confidence in me and look forward to building upon the strong foundation Kim and so many others have established.”
“J. Max understands the history, values and culture of Harps, as well as the responsibility we have to our associates, customers and communities,” Eskew said. “I have great confidence in him, our leadership team and the future of this company.”
Founded in 1930 in Springdale, Harps operates 177 stores in Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee, with more than 7,200 associates.
Related: Harps Food Stores To Acquire 18 Stores From Dyer Foods In TN, KY