Ingles grocery chain founder dies at age 77

ASHEVILLE, NC (AP) — Ingle’s grocery stores founder Robert “Bob” Ingle has died at age 77.

Gus Morris of Morris Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Asheville says Ingle died Sunday.

Ingle fought in Korea and attended the University of Miami before returning to North Carolina to open his first grocery store in Asheville in 1963.

The store had $8,500 in sales its first year. The company now reports $2 billion in annual sales.

The Black Mountain-based company now has 200 locations in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.

The company says Ingles son, Robert Ingle Jr., will take over as CEO of the supermarket chain.

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