Everybody in town remembers the massive Valentine’s Day display Collins built around a vintage Volkswagen placed inside the floral department and painted to match the “Love Bug.” They thought the washers and dryers he brought in to demonstrate the savings they could achieve by using Food City private label laundry products was a nice touch too.

Every time an associate at Collins’ store is recognized by a customer, secret shopper or Tim himself, a gold star goes on his or her name badge and, at the end of the month, the person with the most gold stars is honored as the Associate of the Month.

Collins thrusts his store into the limelight with his participation in 10 community nonprofits and founded the local YMCA’s Safe Kids Halloween program that gives children with disabilities the opportunity to have a night full of fun and games each year.

Collins is a tremendous leader, as is evident from this direct quote from his associate, “His example of exceptional customer service drives me to take pride in being a Food City employee.”

Evidence for customer loyalty can be found in the numbers: More than 86 percent of his total store sales are generated by his base (most frequent) customers.