Travel elsewhere around the country, and it’s hard to find the abundance of family-owned independent supermarkets that thrive across the Capital Region. Outlets like Calandro’s, Calvin’s Bocage Market, Matherne’s, Alexander’s and Oak Point Market are among the scores of retailers across the Baton Rouge area that lure shoppers with local and gourmet items alongside competitively priced staples.
Campbell retired from AG in 2017, having guided the company’s transformation into an efficient distribution center and provider of extensive retail support services. Today, the Anselmo Drive company has more than 650 full-time employees and annual sales topping $800 million, with member stores spanning Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Campbell, loathe to retire outright, continues working with AG and other companies as a consultant.
Something pivotal happened in those years that would forever shape Campbell’s feeling for AG. When his father died in 1975, no one was more surprised than Campbell when three of the company’s top brass, including longtime President Hillar Moore Jr., showed up in Shreveport for the funeral.
“They drove from Baton Rouge to Shreveport to go a funeral for a man they didn’t know for a part-time worker who, at the time, was 23 years old,” Campbell recalls. “It was one of the most impactful things I’ve experienced, that they would have done that.”
Shortly after, Campbell earned a law degree at LSU and went to work full time for AG. Though he thought a career at the FBI might be a good fit with his law and accounting degrees, AG kept revealing itself as a remarkable place to work, he says.
“What sold me on the company, as a young person, was this extraordinary commitment to these independent retail groceries,” Campbell says.
He was also impressed by the camaraderie and relationships that had been built within the organization, “not only among people that worked there, but in their care and concern for those retailers.”
Campbell’s 41-year career at AG included a variety of roles, including in-house legal counsel, internal auditor, manager of retail accounting, and controller. He advanced to chief financial officer and treasurer in 1987, and, in 1993, added chief operating officer to those responsibilities. In 1995, he was tapped to serve as president and CEO, a post he held for the next 20 years. When he stepped down, the board created a special role for him, executive chairman, to aid the transition.
Sales under Campbell’s tenure increased significantly. By 2005, a decade into his leadership, 10-year sales had almost doubled to $4.7 billion from $2.5 billion. Dividends distributed to member owners during the same period jumped to $20.4 million from $7.2 million.
Known for his dogged focus on excellence, Campbell’s North Star was to help AG’s members stay competitive against a tumultuous grocery backdrop dominated by national conglomerates. He worked tirelessly to increase efficiencies in AG’s distribution chain and to provide members a menu of technology and marketing services to help them improve operations.
Campbell also advocated for independent retailers at the national policy level through his longtime service on the National Grocers Association board of directors.
“Our goal was just to level the playing field so our members could compete,” he says. “Bigger doesn’t have to mean better. We wanted to be able to compete aggressively, and that was exciting. Because business is a game. You move the chess pieces, and you try to succeed with the rules before you.”
Campbell worked with political leaders, congressional committees and suppliers to ensure AG’s members had access to competitive pricing. Internally, he improved systems across all of AG’s departments, creating a corporate culture focused on the company’s 150 different owner-entities.
“That was one of the biggest challenges,” he says. “Recognizing that each one of these stores had its own culture, market and ways of doing business.”
AG began in 1950 with a simple warehouse concept in which goods were purchased from manufacturers and stored and distributed to members. When fuel and interest rates both spiked in the 1970s, the company doubled down on moving products faster.
“Efficiency became the mantra for quite a few years,” Campbell recalls.
Starting in the 1980s, AG’s focus shifted to helping retailers tighten up internal operations and refine their retail departments because consumers had come to expect more from the grocery shopping experience. AG began to provide such things as back-office support, technology services, face-to-face marketing, and merchandising support.
“I used to say that I only had one fear in the business, and it was that the independent wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning and put the key in the front door,” Campbell says. “And if that was the case, then we failed them. We needed to do everything we could to let them know we had their back, so that they could go out there and interface with customers.”
Throughout his career, more than one national job opportunity has presented itself. But Campbell and his wife of 42 years, Libby, have preferred to remain in Baton Rouge where community involvement has been a top priority. His extensive board service includes the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, the Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center and the Capital Area United Way among others.
Retirement hasn’t slowed Campbell. He formed a consulting company in 2017 and has served on several for-profit boards. He also continues to deliver motivational public speaking engagements on success and how we measure it.
“When someone sits down and figures out how to really be fulfilled,” Campbell says, “it’s an incredible thing.”
MILESTONES
1952: Born in Shreveport to parents Joseph H. and Olga M. Campbell.
All four of Campbell’s grandparents are Lebanese immigrants.
1969: Graduates from Jesuit High School in Shreveport. Participation in Louisiana Boys State in high school encourages Campbell to leave north Louisiana and enroll at LSU.
1972: A full-time student in accounting, Campbell begins a part-time job at Associated Grocers in its retail store accounting division. He keeps the books for AG member stores, getting a window into grocery industry mechanics.
1973: Earns bachelor’s degree in accounting from LSU and begins the study of law at the LSU Law Center. Believes the combination of law and accounting could make him a strong candidate for the FBI. Continues working part time at AG.
1982: Marries Elizabeth “Libby” Clay. His mother, Olga M. Campbell, dies. The couple, devout Catholics, embrace life in Baton Rouge, becoming involved in their faith community and numerous charities. AG begins to provide more technical and marketing support to its member stores to increase competitiveness.
1987: Named CFO and treasurer
1993: Adding chief operating officer to his responsibilities, Campbell continues to push for excellence among AG member stores while also advocating for a level playing field on pricing among national distributors. By 1995, 10-year sales more than double, totaling $2.5 billion, with $7.2 million distributed back to owners over the same period.
2000: Honored with the Spirit of America Award from the National Grocers Association, bestowed on individuals who provide community service and government relations on behalf of the food distribution industry. Named to the LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business Hall of Distinction.
2015: Transitions from CEO to executive chairman. Sales over the 10-year period from 2006 to 2015 grow to $7.1 billion.
2015-2017: Serves as executive chairman to ensure a smooth transition. Earns Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center’s Hillar C. Moore Jr. Outstanding Leadership Award in 2017. Moore, former CEO of AG, had first recruited Campbell to get involved at the cancer center.
2017: Retires from AG and opens a consultancy. Continues to serve on for-profit and nonprofit boards and speak about business excellence and personal fulfillment to nationwide groups.
Read about this year’s other legends and leaders.
