Ragland Bros. Retail Cos. traces its beginnings back to 1922 with Ragland-Potter Wholesale Grocery and then to June of 1935 when four brothers, Will, Butler , Harvey, and Tom Ragland, purchased the Ragland-Potter grocery warehouse in Knoxville , Tennessee . This original purchase was financed by Mr. C. B. Ragland, Will Ragland's father-in-law, who operated a wholesale grocery business in Nashville , Tennessee . Over time, up to 18 locations were opened for business over an area from Murphy, NC to Opelika , AL . Ragland Bros. Co., as it was then known, was the first wholesale supplier in the Southeast to deliver the general merchandise and groceries on trucks, and it was the first to utilize computers for ordering and invoicing. more... See more text