Long before Leon Stapleton became known as a pioneering Black grocer and longtime Kansas City businessman, his oldest son remembers a more practical reason his father entered the grocery industry: He had a family to support.
Stapleton began working for Safeway in 1947, the same year he married his wife, Willosia. Over 21 years, he advanced from clerk to produce manager, assistant manager and the company’s first Black store manager, according to his obituary. In May 1968, he left Safeway and purchased United Super Market at 39th Street and Kensington Avenue, beginning a family business that would serve Kansas City’s urban core for decades.
“He had to have a good job,” said Vernon Stapleton, his oldest son. “He was having kids, and he needed a steady job, so he went to Safeway down on 29th and Troost.”…