SPRINGDALE, AR - Harps Food Stores, Inc. announced that Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kim Eskew will retire effective January 15, 2027, concluding a remarkable career spanning nearly five decades. The Harps Board of Directors has selected current President J. Max Van Hoose to succeed Eskew as Chairman and CEO upon his retirement.

Eskew joined Harps on August 15, 1977, as a part-time stocker and cashier while attending the University of Arkansas. What began as a job to help him through college became a lifelong career with the company. After earning his degree in Administrative Management in 1980, Eskew advanced through numerous leadership roles, including Closing Manager, Grocery Manager, Store Manager, District Manager, Director of Merchandising and Advertising, Vice President of Marketing, Executive Vice President, and President. He was named CEO in 2016 and later became Chairman and CEO.

“It has been the honor of my life to spend my career at Harps, beginning on the sales floor and ultimately having the privilege of leading this company,” Eskew said in the recent release. “I am incredibly proud of what our associates have built together, and I am especially grateful to have led a company owned by the very people who make it successful.”

During his tenure at Harps, Eskew saw firsthand one of the most significant milestones in Harps history: becoming a 100% employee-owned company in 2001. Since that transition, Harps has experienced considerable growth while maintaining its focus on serving local communities and creating value for its employee-owners.

“Kim’s leadership, vision, and commitment to our associates have helped shape Harps into the company it is today,” Van Hoose said. “His influence can be seen throughout every part of our organization. I am honored by the Board’s confidence in me and look forward to building upon the strong foundation Kim and so many others have established.”

Van Hoose is the grandson of Harp's founders, Harvard and Floy Harp. He is a graduate of Springdale High School and holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Arkansas and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Kansas.

“J. Max understands the history, values, and culture of Harps, as well as the responsibility we have to our associates, customers, and communities,” Eskew said. “I have great confidence in him, our leadership team and the future of this company. I know they will continue moving Harps forward, achieving even greater success in the future.”

Harps is a 100% employee-owned company, which operates 177 stores in eight states including Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Harps is the largest employee-owned company in the state of Arkansas. Harps was founded by Harvard and Floy Harp in Springdale, Arkansas, in 1930. Since then, the company has grown to employ over 7,200 associates.

PLEASANT PRAIRIE, WI - In time for National Guacamole Day on Sept. 16, Good Foods Group launched Guacxiety, a campaign about the nagging uncertainty of buying an avocado and not knowing whether it will be ready when you are.

Created with challenger marketing consultancy Rival, the campaign runs across digital channels and connected TV beginning September 16th, 2026, and draws directly on the meme formats and comment-section discourse that have made avocado timing a running joke on social media. Rather than inventing a tension, the creative borrows the one consumers have already been posting about for years.

Guacxiety also introduces a free, limited-edition avocado stress ball, available to order at goodfoods.com beginning September 16th while supplies last. The avocado stress ball plugs into a bigger moment, one where squishy fidget toys have become a fixture of Gen Z culture on TikTok and Instagram and squeezing something soft is an ordinary way to take the edge off a stressful day.

New data suggests the online discourse around fresh avocados is grounded in a real, offline frustration. In a survey conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of Good Foods Group, more than 4 in 5 Americans (83%) purchase fresh avocados. Among avocado purchasers, 82% say they get frustrated when avocados go bad before they can use them, and more than two in three (68%) agree that buying fresh, whole avocados often feels like a guessing game.

Other findings among avocado purchasers include:

• Over three quarters (76%) agree fresh, whole avocados often go from too hard to overripe faster than expected
• 69% say getting the timing right when buying fresh, whole avocados feels like a matter of luck.
• Two in three (67%) worry the avocados they buy will not be ripe when they need them

"The number that stopped us was 82%. Four out of five people who buy avocados have watched one go bad before they got to use it. That is not a small annoyance; it is a repeated one, and it is why so much of the conversation online is people joking about something that genuinely bothers them," said Mandy Bottomlee, Director of Content Marketing at Good Foods Group, in the recent release. "That is exactly the anxiety we take off the table at Good Foods Group. We make fresh, craveable guacamole that is ready when you open it, so nobody is left guessing."

"The tension around avocados is real; just look at the running jokes across social media,” said Mikayla Belson, Creative Director at Rival. “So when the idea of the Guacxiety Stress Ball came up, we immediately wanted to make that real, too. In our eyes, it’s the opposite of a hard sell. And that’s the spirit of the whole campaign. From the videos, to the website, to the stress balls, it’s all just a fun, light-hearted break in your day, which is a perfect fit for a brand like Good Foods.”

Good Foods makes ready-to-eat guacamole using high-pressure processing, a cold technique that preserves texture and flavor without heat. The company's products are sold at grocery stores and warehouse clubs nationwide, including Costco, Kroger, Target, and Publix.