Tom Leonard’s plans expansion, more locations as new generation takes helm

TJ Leonard, on left, and Tom Leonard of Tom Leonard’s Farmer’s Market. (Jack Jacobs photos)

With a new Leonard at the till, Tom Leonard’s Farmer’s Market is headed for growth mode.

Plans are in the works to expand the square footage of the Short Pump grocery store, as well as open additional locations and introduce organic products more consistently to the store’s shelves. That’s according to TJ Leonard, who recently took on the role of company president from his dad, who opened the store that bears his name 20 years ago.

The planned 11,000-square-foot addition to the existing 15,000-square-foot store at 4150 Tom Leonard Drive would rise on what’s currently the store’s outdoor market space. The project is expected to cost $5.5 million to $7 million to build.

The outdoor market area, which rotates its offerings seasonally with things like pumpkins and Christmas trees, would be relocated to a new location on the property, which is owned by an LLC tied to the retailer.

A start date for the expansion project hasn’t been set yet. The project is expected to last about 18 months from start to finish. The store would remain open during construction.

With the wheels in motion for the expansion of what’s currently the company’s only store, TJ said he’d like to open more Tom Leonard’s locations as well. While specifics haven’t been nailed down yet, one or two more stores are possible within the next three to five years. TJ said when and where they open would depend on the pace of land acquisitions, as the company would want to own its sites.

“I’m not opposed to being in multiple states. I’m also not opposed to opening multiple locations in the Richmond market specifically, if that ends up being the case. We’ll see how real estate opportunities become available and where they become available,” he said.

TJ has a background in working for multi-unit grocery brands, and said that experience and a desire to manage suppliers and costs more effectively inspired the idea.

“It certainly helps with your buying, your logistics and sourcing. It makes you a bigger fish in a small pond,” he said. “There are a lot of costs that are fixed and would be nice to spread over multiple locations.”

TJ’s interest in making Tom Leonard’s a multi-store brand is a departure from his dad’s philosophy of focusing on one store, or to “put your eggs in one basket, then watch that basket” as the elder Leonard is fond of saying. TJ said the pending expansion project to create a more than 25,000-square-foot Short Pump store would be a trial run of the sort of store he’d like to replicate elsewhere. He said it’s a popular size for customers that also is relatively easy to build and operate.

“You can increase the frequency of shops because it’s so easy to get out. So instead of them doing a single weekly shop, they come back two or three times, which is exactly what you’re looking for,” he said. “It’s that middleweight in the boxing ring.”

An upcoming expansion project planned for Tom Leonard’s Farmer’s Market would nearly double the size of the Short Pump grocery store.

Now at the helm as president, the younger Leonard is also experimenting with bringing organic products to the store more frequently.

“Although it’s slightly more expensive, I would certainly agree that’s the direction that we’re moving in. Not just in produce but you’ve got your proteins as well,” he said.

Historically, Tom Leonard’s has offered organic products when it’s most economical to do so. TJ’s approach would be to offer organic products more consistently to stay in line with the tastes of Millennial and Gen Z shoppers.

“Now we’ve reached a point with my generation and the generation after me, they want that. They’re looking for that and they’re willing to pay a higher price for a higher quality product,” the 40-year-old said.

When Tom Leonard’s announced the father-son succession in a news release earlier this month, it started the next chapter in the family’s history in the grocery business.

TJ’s late grandfather, Stew Leonard, founded the Stew Leonard’s grocery store chain with multiple locations in the Northeast. Tom opened Tom Leonard’s in Short Pump store in 2004. TJ followed in their footsteps first with other companies. He formerly worked as senior director of produce and floral for grocery chain Sprouts, and was a store manager and merchandiser for Safeway in the D.C. area. Prior to being appointed president, TJ had been Tom Leonard’s vice president of merchandising.

When the current Tom Leonard’s store was built, there was a dairy farm operating on the other side of Broad Street. Today, that farm is now the Whole Foods-anchored West Broad Village. Tom said the growth of the Short Pump area has brought with it competing grocery stores against which his store has been able to hold its own by focusing on its own store experience.

“What we try to do is do a better job. Not only in the quality but also saving the customer money. This area has exploded out here. It is, without a doubt, the most competitive food area in America. You have every major player within five miles of this store,” Tom said. “They’re chain stores, they’re a different thing than we are. They say, ‘The big don’t eat the small, the fast eat the slow.’”

Tom, who remains active with the company as an advisor now that his son has the reins, said Tom Leonard’s generates $10 million in revenue annually. The company has more than 70 employees. He said the leadership change is a gradual approach aimed at getting ahead of challenges often faced by family-owned businesses.

“The father is running the business with one hand tied behind his back, because he’s become so good at it. … Then, all the sudden, what happens in like 90% of family businesses is that the father has a stroke, or he’s scuba diving and drowns,” Tom said. “The next generation is pulled out of (a subordinate role) and put into the president’s role of running the company and they’ve never been trained.”

The elder Leonard, 68, said he hopes to avoid that situation with a transition plan where he is still regularly engaged with the business to ease his son into leadership.

“So what you see happening here isn’t that all of a sudden I become a fisherman,” said Tom. “What you see is me not coming in every day. TJ is running the company now and when he has a problem, my goal is to teach him how to solve that unique problem. And if something happens to me, the business continues.”