Joseph Gray Welsh is a Retail Supermarket Consultant, Educator, and Speaker who resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Having served in nearly every possible retail and wholesale food job over the last 38 years, Joseph has continued to help, represent, and consult retail supermarkets nationwide. Be on the lookout for his new book, “101 Easy Supermarket Tips”.
Taking his first retail job at age 13, Joseph has led a family business that began in 1926, until his retirement in 2015, due to cancer. Joseph has “seen it all” while operating stores in the El Paso area, West Texas, New Mexico, and along the US/Mexico border for decades. He will continue the battle as a consultant to the Independent Grocer nationwide. Owning, operating, and managing stores of all formats, sizes, demographic bases, income levels, and competitive situations…no one is more qualified to consult you than Joseph Welsh.
In addition to a Master’s Degree in Accounting and Finance, Joseph has graduated from programs such as SMU (Supermarket Manager University), RCU (Retail Counselor University), and scores of industry educational seminars in retailing, perishables, shrink management, merchandising, meat specialist, specialty foods and more…too many to count.
During his years in the wholesale industry, Joseph was trained in MTS programs administered by Harvard Business School, such as: Analysis of Financial Statements-Market Survey Techniques-Break-Even Analysis-Shopper Psychology… among others.
At the wholesale level, Joseph began in the print shop at Malone & Hyde (Miami) doing ad layout, camera art, operating various presses-and other machines such as collators, paper cutters, and more. Eventually moved to the sales department, Joseph maintained customers retail price zones, completed weekly competitive price checks, participated in ‘New Item’ presentations, and worked store re-sets-when not in school. Post college, Joseph worked as a Liaison between the Retail Automation and Retail Accounting departments at Malone & Hyde, and helped with the implementation of the company’s first DSD systems. Eventually placed on the company ‘Fast-Track’ to division management, Joseph was promoted and relocated to the Louisville Area as a Retail Counselor.
As a retail counselor, Joseph was placed in Louisville to call on the company’s two largest clients, Valu Warehouse Group (then 11 stores) and Austin’s (then 5 stores). Based out of the corporate owned store in Clarksville, Indiana Joseph oversaw that stores operations, in addition to ‘protecting the business’. Other duties also included writing the weekly ad (many versions), handling and buying from diverters, provide weekly layouts of the 176-ft Wall of Values for all stores, among others. The stores averaged about $400,000 weekly and ranged from 22,000-57,000 square feet. During this time, Joseph was a frequent traveler to Memphis, TN (Malone & Hyde corporate offices) for training.
After leaving Malone & Hyde, and returning to the Family supermarket business, due to Joseph’s fathers illness, Joseph became President of the company at age 25. From that modest beginning, Joseph built new stores, opened new stores, purchased stores, and developed retail concepts that dominated many retail markets in West Texas for years. Under the banners of Welsh’s, Village Markets, Pueblo Markets, Pueblo Discount Foods, Pueblo Family Markets, Prime Time Food Stores, Pueblo Express and others…Joseph and his staff operated growing supermarkets that were stable, profitable, and very involved in the communities they served. Respected and revered by his peers, Joseph is credited for opening the country’s first Ethnic Limited Assortment store in 1991, in Presidio, Texas.
Joseph has served on: Youngest Director in the history of Independent Grocers of Abilene (age 27), IGI Finance and New Member Committee, Fleming Foods of Lubbock/IGA Group Board Chairman, Vice-President of Lubbock/El Paso IGA Group, El Paso IGA Executive Committee Board Chairman, Affiliated Foods Inc.-Amarillo Venture Board and Ad committee member among others…
Providing public and motivational speeches throughout the area for businesses, organizations, and college business departments, Joseph Welsh speaks also as ‘Joe-The-Grocer’ a comedy laced presentation that reflects on his years in the food business, as an AAU Coach, and his many years as a traveling basketball official. A performance that shouldn’t be missed.
