FriendShip Announces Promotions as Operations VP Gregg Edwards Retires

FREMONT, Ohio — FriendShip made several executive moves as industry veteran Gregg Edwards retired from the company.

Edwards, vice president of operations, joined the company is 2013 to implement a new strategic plan. During this time at FriendShip, he led the convenience store retailer during a period of "unprecedented growth and innovation while maintaining a laser focus on culture and customer experience," the company said.

Notably, the chain's store count grew by 35 percent, its retail team grew by 50 percent and store sales grew by more than 100 percent under Edward's leadership.

"We were very excited when Gregg agreed to join our team," said Brian Beck, company co-owner. "We recruited Gregg to help us execute a newly created strategic plan centered around providing our guests with WACS (Wicked Awesome Customer Service) and shifting our stores to a food-first format.

"Bringing him on board was a great decision and a pivotal moment in FriendShip's 35-year history. He led our retail team during a period that positioned us to successfully launch our FriendShip Kitchen concept in 2018, an award-winning brand that now represents over half of our 27 FriendShip locations," he added.

With Gregg's retirement, the company promoted Kirk Matthews to vice president of retail operations, Kevin Campbell to director of retail operations, and Aaron Hirt to category manager and business analyst. 

Kirk had previously served as the company's vice president of foodservice and marketing and will now be responsible for the entire FriendShip division.  

"I feel extremely fortunate to have finished my career with FriendShip and Beck Suppliers," Edwards said. "I have worked for some great convenience retailers, but none with such an incredible culture based on humble leadership, teamwork and communication. I am very proud to have been part of the FriendShip Kitchen transformation and am excited to see my great teammates continue to grow the brand."  

Fremont-based FriendShip is operated by Beck Suppliers, a family-owned and -operated retail and wholesale petroleum marketer.