Award Ceremony

The 2026 ceremony will feature the top 3 finalists from each of our four categories during a live virtual celebration.

Save the date: July 23, 2026.

In the meantime, watch the recording from the 2025 live ceremony that celebrates store managers, meet our finalists and watch the reaction as Store Manager Award recipients are announced. 


Meet Our Store Manager Awards Grand Prize Winners

Russell Blais

Roche Bros. Marketplace
Duxbury, Massachusetts
Timing is everything in store management, especially at locations with seasonal businesses. At the helm of a Brothers Marketplace along the coast in Duxbury, Mass., Russ has impeccable timing for scaling, servicing and steering. He meets the needs ...

Jason Johnson

K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc., Food City
Gray, Tennessee
Like many leaders in this industry, Jason Johnson began working as a courtesy clerk at the age of 17. Back then, while assisting shoppers and joining his first store team, he couldn’t know that he would eventually work his way up to receive the ...

Ramatoulaye "Rama" Diallo

Jewel-Osco
Chicago, Illinois
Among many other things, Ramatoulaye, or “Rama” to her friends, is known for her merchandising skills that create a sense of theater in her store in the western edge of downtown Chicago. While she sets the stage for product discovery and bigger ...

Heath Redman

Harris Teeter LLC
Asheville, North Carolina
It’s been said that storms draw things out in people that calm weather doesn’t. That sentiment was especially true in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which wreaked devastation in many parts of the country in fall 2024, including western North Carolina....

Tahjae Welch

The MarketPlace Limited
Paget, Bermuda
This young leader has made history both on the pitch and in the store, showing that talent in one area of life often extends to another. The common denominators: sheer skill and a competitive fire. Tahjae started his career in the grocery industry ...

© 2026 FMI All rights reserved.

251 18th Street S, Suite 1200, Arlington, VA 22202 | phone: 202-452-8444 | fax: 202-429-4519

FMI_W_Stacked