Another former Publix store clerk will lead the Lakeland-based grocery chain as CEO after Todd Jones steps away from the top company role to become executive chairman of the board.

Jones, who started with Publix in 1980 as a front service clerk in New Smyrna Beach, starts his new post on Jan. 1, according to a news release from the company.

Kevin Murphy, currently Publix’s president, will take over as CEO.

Murphy got his start with Publix in 1984, also as a front service clerk in Margate in South Florida. He became a store manager in 1995. After holding other leadership roles, he became senior vice president of retail operations in 2016 and president in 2019.

Senior Vice President John Goff will replace Murphy as president.

“We are delighted to have leaders with the experience of Kevin and John who are ready to take the next steps in their careers,” Jones said in a news release. “I am confident in their ability to lead our company into the future and to continue to make Publix a great place to shop for our customers and a great place to work for our associates.”

Publix typically chooses internal candidates for high-level positions, said retired supermarket analyst David Livingston.

“They promote from within,” Livingston said. “They’re a preferred employer. They have good people.”

Jones became CEO in 2016, the first time someone outside the founding Jenkins family would helm the company, the Orlando Sentinel reported. He was 53 at the time. 

He led the chain through the coronavirus pandemic as well as demonstrations in its stores over its support of Adam Putnam, a Republican candidate for governor in 2018 who had described himself as a “proud NRA sellout.”

Today, Publix has 1,358 stores. In its most recent earnings report, the employee-owned company said sales in the quarter ending Sept. 30 were up 7.2% to $14 billion.

Net earnings in that quarter were $833 million and Publix’s stock price went up on Nov. 1 from $14.75 per share to $15.10. Its stock is only available to employees and board members.

The chain is also expanding into its eighth state, Kentucky. 

Jones replaced Ed Crenshaw as the CEO in 2016, and now he will replace Crenshaw as chairman of the board. Crenshaw will stay on the board as chairman emeritus, according to the release issued Friday.

“Todd has been an outstanding leader,” Crenshaw said. “He has been committed to continuing Publix’s success and passionate about the development and promotion of our associates.”

Representatives for Publix did not immediately answer a question about why this was the right time for the leadership transition, but Jones’ tenure as CEO is approaching eight years, the same amount of time Crenshaw spent on the job.

The changes at Publix are just the latest Central Florida leadership shakeup, with Osceola County-based Tupperware terminating CEO Miguel Fernandez “without cause” in October and replacing him with Laurie Ann Goldman, a former CEO of Spanx and Avon North America.

Orlando-based Red Lobster named longtime executive Horace Dawson to the restaurant chain’s top role in September after nearly a year and a half without a CEO.