SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Gerald Harp, one of four children of Harps Food Stores Inc. founders Harvard and Floy Harp and a retired chief executive of the Springdale-based company, died Friday (Oct. 16). He was 80. No cause of death was given in his obituary.
Harp was born March 21, 1940. He graduated from Springdale High School in 1958 and later served in the U.S. Army. He returned to Northwest Arkansas and graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1966.
Harp worked for 45 years at Harps Food Stores, which started in 1930 as Harps Cash Grocery and was largely a family-owned business for decades, although management owned some of the stock. Harp spent the last seven years with the company as chief executive officer and chairman, starting in 1995 following the retirement of his older brother, Don Harp.
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