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John Persons honored for Tops leadership after 5/14
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BUFFALO, NY (The Buffalo News) — As Tops Markets' president and chief operating officer, John Persons led the company through a time of grief, following the May 14, 2022 racist attack that killed 10 Black people at its Jefferson Avenue store.
Following the tragedy, Tops stepped up its community engagement, Persons said.
"I always felt we were doing good things," he said. "Now, we're doing better things, because we're much more engaged. We're much more engaged at the grassroots level, at each store, at each community, with neighbors that we serve."
Persons received the Buffalo Niagara Partnership's inaugural Industry Leader award on Thursday, at the business group's economic development summit. Earlier this year, he was promoted to COO of Northeast Grocery, Tops' parent company.
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