Rick Rayford

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Brookshire Grocery Company’s Board of Directors announced Thursday the company’s president and CEO Rick Rayford has retired, and Chairman of the Board Bradley W. Brookshire would serve as the company’s chairman and CEO.

“We appreciate Rick’s 44 years of service to this company and the legacy he leaves behind,” Brookshire said. “Hundreds of employees were promoted to leadership positions during his tenure, some directly through his mentorship and others through the many career development and education opportunities he so strongly supported.

“We will continue on the path set forth by Rick’s leadership to fulfill our mission of providing a great food and shopping experience,” he added. “We thank Rick and wish both he and his wife, Bonnie, the very best in the next phase of their lives.”

Brookshire is the grandson of the company’s founder Wood T. Brookshire and has served as chairman of the board since 2007. He is part of the third generation of the Brookshire family members to lead the company.

He has 38 years of service in various leadership roles within the company including store director, director of distribution and executive vice president of corporate development.

In mid-October, the family owned grocery chain was considering a sale estimated at $1 billion for more than 150 stores in three states, including Brookshire’s, Super 1 Foods and the Fresh by Brookshire’s flagship store in Tyler.

One industry analyst speculated the company was the subject of a bidding war, possibly between supermarket giants Albertson s and H-E-B. But potential billion dollar sale didn’t happen.

“I firmly believe Brookshire Grocery Co. is a business with solid foundation and enormous potential,” Brookshire said in a pre-Thanksgiving memo that confirmed the potential sale had been cancelled.

Brookshire’s grandfather opened a small store in downtown Tyler on Sept. 1, 1928. By 1939, there were three stores in Tyler and in the 1940s he added stores in neighboring communities.

In 1961, the company spread to Louisiana with two stores in Shreveport. A 175,000-square-foot distribution center opened in Tyler to stock the growing number of stores.

The company managed to add some stores and double the size of its distribution center during the recession of the mid-1980s. Healthy growth continued in the 1990s with the purchase of a dairy plant in Tyler, a distribution facility in Monroe, Louisiana, another office and warehousing complex north of Tyler and further expansion of the company’s headquarters. A plant began manufacturing Goldenbrook Farms ice cream in 1997.

The company employs around 13,000 people in three states.

In a statement Thursday to the company’s employees, Brookshire thanked them for their support, particularly in recent months as the board evaluated a range of strategic alternatives for the company.

“Times of change are also times of great opportunity and growth, and I am excited about all that the future holds for Brookshire Grocery Company. My challenge to each and every one of our 14,000 partners is to remain focused on our common goals of taking great care of our customers, uniting as a team and making our company the very best it can be,” the statement from Brookshire read.

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