Jackson grocery store completes its rebranding into Harps

With the erection of new exterior signage last week, Harps Food Stores has completed the rebranding of the former Country Mart grocery at 309 E. Jackson Blvd. in Jackson.

Springdale, Arkansas-based Harps took over the Jackson location in May, the first of 20 stores the company purchased in the spring in Missouri and Arkansas, according to Harps executive vice president J. Max Van Hoose.

Country Marts in Marble Hill, Fredericktown, Kennett, Clarkton and Bernie also changed over to Harps.

Both Country Mart and Harps had stores in three Southeast Missouri towns -- Dexter, Malden and Doniphan -- with only one store remaining in each community after realignment.

In Jackson, the transition to a new owner appears to have been largely invisible to some customers, according to store manager Kevin Groves.

Harps Food Stores completes its rebranding at 309 E. Jackson Blvd. on Friday in Jackson. The grocery was formerly known as Country Mart.Jeff Long

"People call (the store) and are amazed to be told we made the switch from Country Mart to Harps," said Groves, who has been with the Jackson store 19 years.

Groves said the workforce is largely unchanged under new ownership, with the Jackson Harps employing more than 80 people full- and part-time.

Harps, in taking control of the stores during the COVID-19 pandemic, was quick to require masking of all employees and the placement of plastic shields at all checkout counters.

Harvard and Floy Harp opened a mom-and-pop operation in Springdale at the height of the Great Depression in 1930, adding a second grocery in 1964.

The company website refers to Harps as the largest employee-owned company with headquarters in Arkansas and the 30th largest overall in the United States.

Harps has 98 supermarkets in four states: 23 in Missouri, 63 in Arkansas, 11 in Oklahoma and one in Kansas.