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 company’s highest honor as the winner of the Jack C. Smith Store Manager of the Year award.

But it was that early work ethic that put Jason firmly on the path to earning that accolade, named for Food City’s beloved founder and former chairman of the board. Jason was chosen for the distinction in 2024 based on his performance across metrics including sales, financial performance, customer service scores and customer rankings, among other factors. His store’s inventive offerings, such as a unique in-store smoked meat program, were also lauded.

Jason has been able to reach such career pinnacles, in part, because he has put his learnings to good use, starting with that first job and continuing through his other roles at Food City. In addition to educational day-to-day experiences, Jason has strengthened his industry knowledge by completing several training and certified programs, such as Dale Carnegie courses, FMI’s Future Leaders eXperience, the Retail Management Certificate Program and FMI’s SafeMark® Certified Food Protection Manager training, among others.

Returning that knowledge is equally important to Jason, who is a training store manager for the company’s assistant manager and store manager training programs and a leader of the retail management 10-week internship program. He also serves as an instructor for Food City’s comprehensive Performance Skills for Effective Store Management training course.

Jason’s store’s performance bears out his role as a trainer who talks the talk and walks the (store) walk. During his first full year as manager at his current location, the store’s financial improvement outpaced district and company results, a feat that was even more impressive because no capital investment was made at that location and new a retail competitor came to town a few miles away.

While he has worked to increase sales across many departments and reduce shrink, another metric underscores his canny leadership that’s been honed over the last 23 years. This location’s mystery shopper score was the highest in the its history last year and one of the best in the entire company.

In addition to satisfying customers, Jason creates a positive work environment at the store via weekly meetings with associates and department heads and in his work leading and participating in volunteer projects within the community. He also conducts deep dives with each department during the week, encouraging employees to work together to share concerns and identify solutions. In this sense, he is paying it forward and inspiring other young associates to work toward a rewarding – and perhaps award-winning – grocery vocation like his.