Harps Food Stores Inc. of Springdale announced Thursday that Kim Eskew, its president and chief operating officer, has been elected as the privately held grocery store chain's new CEO.
Eskew replaces Roger Collins, who has served as CEO for 17 years. Collins announced Thursday that he was stepping down from the post. He will remain chairman of the company's board.
Eskew, originally from Piggott, joined Harps in 1977 while in college at the University of Arkansas. He worked his way up to executive vice president in 2002 and president and COO in 2008.
Collins said in a news release that Eskew "has been overseeing marketing and operations, and has been instrumental in helping produce 11 consecutive years of record earnings. He is a man of integrity and I am confident that he will do a skillful job moving Harps forward. I am very happy for him."
Harps was founded in 1930 as a family-owned business and became employee-owned in 2001. Since then, the chain has more than doubled in size and added $100 million of value to employee-owner accounts, according to the release. It has 85 stores in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas.