Last updated on June 9th, 2016 at 12:51 pm
Mr. Ralph W. Ketner passed away on May 29 at the age of 95.
Mr. Ketner was the last of a trio of men who in 1957 founded Food Town, which became Food Lion. He also was an author, executive-in-residence at Catawba College and one of the most honored men in North Carolina.
Mr. Ketner and his brother, Brown, along with their friend, Wilson Smith, wanted to start a grocery store in Salisbury, North Carolina, but had no money. They called on friends and strangers from the phone book to invest $10 a share. All told, there were 125 original investors. An original share of Food Town stock eventually split 19,440 for 1. Each original investment created a million-dollar return during Mr. Ketner’s tenure. Not only did the Ketners and Smith succeed, but they also made millionaires of their friends and neighbors.
In 1967, deciding that “you can’t buy people’s business—you’ve got to earn it,” Mr. Ketner locked himself in a Charlotte hotel room for days, determined to figure out a way to lower prices on grocery items. His book, “Five Fast Pennies,” describes his process of reducing prices and profits and counting on dramatic increases in volume, or “five fast pennies instead of one slow nickel,” to be successful. Food Town had to increase sales by 50 percent to break even, so Mr. Ketner “bet the company” and convinced the board to take the risk.
It was a risk that paid off with Food Town/Food Lion becoming one of the fastest-growing supermarket chains in the country. Its stock outperformed Walmart’s.
In the 1970s, the grocery chain grew by 35 percent per year. It expanded across North Carolina and the U.S. The Belgian company Delhaize purchased stock in Food Lion during this time period and that relationship continues today.
When it came time to change the name of the company from Food Town, Mr. Ketner came up with the name Food Lion, because he would only need to buy two letters for store signs.
Mr. Ketner’s philosophy was customers first, employees second, stockholders third and management last. Food Town/Food Lion had a profit sharing program for employees from day one. Twenty percent of pre-tax profits went into the plan.
Mr. Ketner was born Sept. 20, 1920, and was the son of a grocer, George Robert Ketner. He lost his mother, Effie Yost Ketner, when he was just 5 years old. His father then passed when Ralph Ketner was 11 years old.
He knew firsthand what he called “the privilege of being underprivileged.” Mr. Ketner worked from an early age, selling newspapers, splitting logs and plucking chickens. He also worked in supermarkets owned by his brother, Glenn.
Mr. Ketner graduated from Boyden High School in 1937. He attended Tri-State College in Angola, Indiana. In 1982, he was the commencement speaker at Tri-State and was awarded an honorary doctorate. His speech was entitled “Four-Letter Words, the Keys to Success: Home Work, Hard Work, Team Work, Good Luck, Good Lord and a Good Idea.”
He dropped out of college in 1939 and returned to work at the grocery store in Kannapolis, North Carolina, owned by his oldest brother, Glenn.
He volunteered for the U.S. Army after the attack on Pearl Harbor and served in North Africa and Italy from 1942-45.
He worked nine jobs after returning from the war, none of them in grocery. When Glenn sold his chain of 25 stores to Winn-Dixie in 1955, Ralph and Brown worked briefly for that chain before starting Food Town with former co-worker Wilson Smith in 1957.
After retiring from Food Lion, Mr. Ketner turned to philanthropy, with Catawba College a frequent recipient. The Ketner School of Business opened at Catawba in 1989, and Mr. Ketner, executive-in-residence, established a third floor office where he provided services as “LPCINC” (the lowest paid consultant in North Carolina). He provided free consultation for anyone seeking his counsel.
He was recognized many times for his accomplishments. Award and honors included the National CEO Award (The Wall Street Journal); USA Entrepreneur of the Year (Price Waterhouse); Who’s Who in Supermarketing; Who’s Who in Finance and Industry, Top Entrepreneurs in U.S. (Venture Magazine); Lifetime Achievement and Entrepreneur of the Year (Ernst & Young and Merrill Lynch).
In 2015, Catawba and Food Lion produced the documentary “Lessons in Leadership: The Story of Food Lion Co-Founder Ralph W. Ketner.” That same year, Mr. Ketner received North Carolina’s top honor, the “Order of the Long Leaf Pine” for extraordinary efforts for the state.
In the foreword to his book “Five Fast Pennies,” Mr. Ketner wrote, “Throughout my life, I faced an uncommon number of obstacles—orphan, child of The Depression, no money. But I was blessed with an ‘attitude,’ a point of view. I saw ‘problems’ as ‘opportunities in disguise.’ I saw a ‘lemon’ and made ‘lemonade.’ I started ‘thinking’ before ‘starting to work.’ I have never had ambitious goals for myself, but have always done my very best on every job.”
Less than two weeks after a March 7 interview with Shelby Publishing Co. President and Publisher Ron Johnston, it was revealed that Mr. Ketner had been hospitalized and given a colon cancer diagnosis. He then was in hospice until his passing.
Mr. Ketner’s funeral will be on Sunday, June 5, at 2:30 p.m. in Keppel Auditorium on the Catawba College campus.
Memorials may be made to Rowan Helping Ministries, 226 North Long Street, Salisbury, NC 28144; Hospice of Rowan County, 720 Grove Street, Salisbury, NC 28144; or Glenn A. Kiser Hospice House, 1229 Statesville Road, Salisbury, NC 28144.
