Kenneth R. Perry
Kenneth R. Perry has never been had patience with the status quo. A man of few words, he eats quickly, moves fast and embraces change, always heading toward the next good thing.
Perhaps that's a reason why the successful entrepreneur selected Virginia Wesleyan College as beneficiary of a $1-million gift this spring.
"To grow, you've got to change," says the 85-year-old Perry. Although the widower spends most of his days at his Norfolk home on River Road Point now, he says he hasn't yet retired from his role as "father" of Dollar Tree Stores, which operates more than 2,300 stores in 38 states.
Perry's gift will be used primarily for the college's endowment, with $625,000 allocated to create the Kenneth R. Perry Dean of the College fund, which will provide the academic dean with discretionary finds to recognize and reward outstanding faculty, and $300,000 to create the Kenneth R. Perry Endowed Library Fund to enhance the library collection. In addition, $75,000 was used to purchase and install lights on the college athletic field.
Perry says he admires the college and all it has been able to accomplish over its 42-year history. "I like the college's program," he says. "It has had good leadership, and it caters to the need of the individual." He says he also appreciates the college's excellent sports teams, even though he isn't able to attend games.
Perry is rather nonchalant about his motivation for making such a generous gift to Virginia Wesleyan College. "I've been working with the college for a long time," he says. "I think they needed it, and I can afford it."
Perry's involvement in Virginia Wesleyan began early. Many close family members were part of the VWC family as employees, volunteers and students. His sister's husband, Douglas McIntyre, served as the college's first registrar and was a faculty member for 25 years.
His first work with VWC began as a district project for the Lions Club, which raised money for a speech and hearing program at the college. Next Perry served as chairman of the President's Advisory Council (PAC), then board member, and now he continues to serve as a trustee emeritus. His daughter, Joan P. Brock, is VWC's current board chairman.
Perry's roots go back to Franklin County, NC, where he was one of 10 children in a farming family. In 1934 he came to Norfolk to attend barber school and to work as a barber. After spending 18 months in service during WWII, Perry came back to Norfolk and married his wife, Kathryn, in 1940, and he opened his own barbershop at Wards Corner on Little Creek Road in 1942. In the years that followed, he opened several other barber and beauty shops, as well as a second mortgage business. He and Kathryn had three children, Joan, Douglas and Kenny (who they lost to diabetes when he was 41).
In 1953, he bought the Ben Franklin Five-and-Dime at Wards Corner and launched his highly successful career in retailing. That was also the time when he started a lifetime of community service. "I helped Frank Batten (former chief of Landmark Communications and VWC benefactor) with Wards Corner in the United Way Campaign," recalls Perry. The Perry children "grew up" in the business, working at tasks such as putting bikes together and handling the billing.
Ben Franklin's evolved into K & K Toys (named after "Kenneth" and wife "Kathryn"). Perry's son Doug and son-in-law Macon F. Brock, Jr., built the company to include 136 stores in more than 15 states. Eventually K & K Toys was sold to KayBee Toys, and the family concentrated its retailing focus on what was to become Dollar Tree Stores, Inc., now headquartered in Chesapeake.
After selling K & K Toys, Perry maintained an office in the Chesapeake headquarters from where he conducted his extensive civic affairs. Some of those activities included volunteer work with the Salvation Army, the Sentara Healthcare Board of Directors (including a stint as chairman), the Retail Merchants Association, the Norfolk Parks and Recreation Department and his church, Talbot Park Baptist Church, where he was a deacon.
His wife was also a long-time Sunday school teacher there and member of the flower committee. When she died in 2000, Perry installed an elevator in the three-story building in her memory.
"Ken Perry's life is one of those thrilling stories as to how brilliance, tenacity, hard work, faith and integrity have come together in a powerful way," says VWC President Billy Greer. "Through his enormous success in the business world, he has improved the quality of life for so many others less fortunate."