IGA Honors Former W. Lee Flowers President

During the recent FMI Midwinter Conference, which took place in Marco Island, Fla., the Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) presented the J. Frank Grimes Award to Henry Johnson Jr.,  former president of W. Lee Flowers & Co. IGA Chairman Mark Batenic and CEO John Ross bestowed the award, which is considered the organization’s highest honor and often referred to as the Chairman’s Award. The recognition was supposed to be presented in 2020, but it was postponed because of the pandemic. Johnson retired in 2019.  

Founded in 1922, Scranton, S.C.-based W. Lee Flowers & Co. serves the Carolinas and Georgia as a wholesale and retail grocery company. Johnson and Chairman and CEO Heyward King Jr. took over company leadership from their fathers in the 1980s, increasing the warehouse size by fivefold, the owned store count from a handful to more than 60, and their offerings from dry goods to meat, produce, dairy, frozen, and even health and beauty items. By the 2000s, W. Lee Flowers was the only South Carolina-owned grocery wholesaler in the state, down from a peak of more than 100. 

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Seeing further opportunities, Johnson created a new banner KJ’s Market IGA, which served as W. Lee Flowers’ introduction into larger cities and has now become the foundation of the retail business. In 2019, when Johnson and King had led W. Lee Flowers for more than 80 years combined, they retired and decided that Alex Lee Inc. would acquire the business, as they wanted the business they built to stay within the IGA family and with a family-owned business. At the time of the sale, Johnson and King owned 50 of the 120 IGA stores they serviced. 

“Henry Johnson is the ultimate gentleman,” said Brian George, president, chairman and CEO of Hickory, N.C.-based Alex Lee Inc. “He has positively impacted the industry with his leadership for many years, and I have been fortunate to learn from him. He welcomed me into the industry and willingly shared his knowledge. I am honored to be able to continue to grow the business he devoted his career to with W. Lee Flowers and the retail stores.” 

Chicago-based IGA is the world’s largest voluntary supermarket network with aggregate worldwide retail sales of more than $43 billion per year. The alliance encompasses more than 6,200 stores globally, with operations in 46 of the United States and 25-plus countries, commonwealths and territories.