2025 Living Legends: UKROP, ROBERT S. ‘BOBBY’

Although his family’s eponymous grocery chain has been out of business since 2009, Ukrop has continued his family’s legacy through the Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods brand of prepared foods and bakery operations, launched in 2010.

Known for its fried chicken, potato wedges, rainbow cookies and White House Rolls, Ukrop’s products are regionally available at Kroger, Wegmans, Publix and Food Lion, as well as Ukrop’s Market Hall. The company has limited distribution nationwide, particularly along the mid-Atlantic.

In 2019, the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business inducted Ukrop into its Alumni Hall of Fame. The 1969 graduate has served on UR’s board of trustees and the business school’s executive advisory council. He is immediate past chair of regional economic development organization the Greater Richmond Partnership.

Outside business, Ukrop, an avid golfer, is heavily involved in supporting regional athletics. In the early 1980s, he rallied support for building Richmond’s baseball stadium, The Diamond, which is now being replaced by CarMax Park, scheduled to open in 2026. He also co-founded Richmond Sports Backers, the athletic organization that manages Richmond’s Monument Avenue 10K race each spring and the city’s annual marathon in the fall.

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