The leadership team from URM Stores, the largest food distributor in the Inland Northwest, visited the AFS Farr West distribution center recently to learn about best practices, transportation methods and other distribution innovations. URM, led by former AFS Chief Operating Officer Roger White, is known for its century-long history of supporting independent grocery stores and member-owners across multiple states. 

Roger, now president and CEO of URM, brought the company’s logistics and transportation teams to the visit. “We’re always looking for opportunities to see and share best practices,” Roger said. “The URM team was very impressed with many aspects of the distribution center including the culture of innovation, tools, homegrown reporting, and, of course, the tremendous team members.” 

During and after the visit, Roger expressed gratitude to AFS leaders Glen Keysaw, Justin Johnson, and their teams for hosting and highlighting the distribution center’s initiatives. Roger also noted the progress on Project ROAR, saying improvements since his last visit six months ago were impressive.

“It was great having the URM team in Farr West,” said Justin Johnson, vice president of distribution. “Visits like this push all of us to keep raising the bar. We learn from each other, we share what’s working and we walk away better equipped to support our retailers.” 

The visit highlighted both companies’ eagerness to share ideas and collaborate on distribution strategies.  

“We appreciated the chance to host the URM team and learn from their perspective,” said Glen Keysaw, executive vice president of value chain at AFS. “Any time we can exchange ideas with peers who care about serving independent grocers, everyone gets better. Collaboration like this strengthens both organizations and ultimately benefits the retailers and communities we serve.”