Grocery Chain Exec Van Hoose Happy with Harps and Home

J. Max Van Hoose knows what it’s like to be busy.

Harps Food Stores Inc., where he is vice president of store planning, has been in growth mode for nearly a decade.

The Springdale-based grocery chain went from 41 locations in 2001 to 75 stores this year, with most of the growth happening since 2005. Harps has five more locations in the works and plans to add five stores annually for the next few years. When you’re Van Hoose and you’re in charge of real estate, acquisition, renovation and remodeling, that makes for a hectic schedule.

“We’ve been pretty busy,” he said. “It’s been a big transition.”

Van Hoose joined Harps 17 years ago, when he was 29 years old. But in a way, he’s been with the company all his life. Through his mother, Judy Harp Van Hoose, he is a Harp by blood.

When Harps offered him a job he didn’t hesitate, and he came back home from Kansas, where he worked with Hallmark Cards.

In 2001, he was the director of construction and equipment at Harps when he was honored by the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal as a member of the Forty Under 40 class.

Van Hoose, 46, definitely gave himself the background he needed to succeed. The Springdale High School graduate has a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Arkansas and an MBA from the University of Kansas.

While Harps has experienced tremendous growth in the last few years, a separate development took place that affected the company’s retail culture — Harps started selling beer and wine. It was evident the company needed to enter the market after the drip of permits being issued in Harps’ core area turned into a flood after alcohol sales were approved in Benton County in November 2012.

Harps found itself surrounded by competitors with state permits, and for a chain that has nearly 20 stores in Washington and Benton counties, that meant too much business was being left on the table.

“It was kind of a cultural change for us and the area,” Van Hoose said. “It almost became a necessity for us to compete.”

Though the sale of beer and wine represents a sea change of sorts, some things have remained the same for the 84-year-old business. The corporate leadership team has been intact for over a decade, and the company, despite being in the backyard of the world’s largest retailer, employs over 4,000 people and pulled in $635 million in revenue last year.

In a conspicuous show of confidence, the chain’s flagship store at 2894 W. Sunset Ave. in Springdale is undergoing a $4.5 million renovation. When the store reopens in September, customers will see, among other things, an enhanced pharmacy, improved deli and new options for meat and seafood. Van Hoose spoke to the scale of the undertaking when he said, “We
don’t close stores very often to fix them up.”

Van Hoose always had a unique last name, and it shot to fame in 1998, when his father, Jerre Van Hoose, won the Springdale mayor’s race. His father served from 1999 to 2008, a decade of epic growth, and the name Van Hoose went down in local history.

Van Hoose said people would oftentimes tell him that they knew his dad, or ask him if his dad was the mayor. The connection, Van Hoose said, has always been an asset.

Since being named a Forty Under 40 honoree, Van Hoose and wife Kelley have raised two daughters — Madeline, who is enrolling at the UA in the fall, and Linden, a student at Har-Ber High School.

“I’ve been to a lot of volleyball games and dance recitals and football games,” he said.

During work-related travel, he might sneak in a bit of fishing. With the family, a hike in Buffalo National Park or skiing in Colorado are always options.

Looking ahead, Van Hoose doesn’t see, or even want, any major changes. Good work and good people are already in his life, and that’s enough.

“I love Northwest Arkansas and I love Harps,” he said. “I hope to keep doing more of the same.”