Ronald G Bruno grew up in the grocery business. Starting at the age of 14, he worked as a bagger and cashier at his family’s grocery store chain, Bruno’s. Started by his uncle Joe and soon joined by Mr. Bruno’s father, Angelo and other uncles, Bruno’s began with a single store in Birmingham in 1932. In 1971, Bruno’s became a publicly-traded company, and grew to be one of the top-producing grocery chains in the Southeast, with more than 250 stores and sales approaching $3 billion.
After graduating from The University of Alabama with a bachelor’s in marketing in 1974, Bruno went back to work full-time for the family business as a category buyer. From there, he worked his way up through the ranks to become director of grocery merchandising, vice president of sales, and president. By 1985, he was COO, and in 1991, he became CEO of the company. This same year Bruno worked with his father to create the Bruno’s Classic, an annual golf tournament in Birmingham on the PGA Senior Tour.
But later in 1991, Bruno’s life was rocked by tragedy: a plane crash took the lives of his father and uncle, as well as five other top executives and two pilots. In the midst of grief, Bruno was appointed chairman and charged with bringing stability to the company. He also had to find a way to remain competitive during a time that included the popularization of stores like Walmart Supercenters, as well as rapidly changing technology.
Under Bruno’s leadership, the company adapted. Between 1991 and 1995, Bruno’s opened 15 new stores annually, expanding markets to Atlanta and Nashville, and claiming 50 percent of the Birmingham market share. In 1995, after being approached by KKR with an interest in purchasing the company, Bruno’s sold for $1.2 billion, at that time the largest sale in Alabama history. As a condition of the sale, the buyer had to continue the golf tournament, which was now renamed the Bruno’s Memorial Classic. The event continues to this day under new sponsorship. Now called the Regions Charity Classic, the tournament has donated more than $20 million to charity since its inception.
After the sale of Bruno’s, he founded Bruno Capital Management in 1995, and continues to serve as President to this day. The same year, with partner Gene Hallman, Bruno again leveraged his love for sports to create the Bruno Event Team, which began with the management of a single event–the Memorial Classic–and grew to be one of the largest dedicated sports event management companies in the US. It has hosted golf events including more than 20 USGA national championships as well as multiple PGA tour and LPGA tour events. In addition to golf, Bruno Event Team operates several other divisions, including Zoom Motorsports, College Gameday, and a full-service catering and concessions division, Bruno Hospitality. Bruno was inducted into the Birmingham Golf Hall of Fame in 1994, and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.
During his career, Bruno has served on the board of directors at Bruno’s, Inc., Russell Athletic Corporation, Books-A-Million, and Southtrust Bank. A committed philanthropist, he has also supported numerous civic organizations, including the United Way Tocqueville Society, the St. Vincent’s Foundation and The University of Alabama President’s Cabinet and the Culverhouse College of Business Board of Visitors. The Angelo Bruno Business Library, which was named for his late father and services the research needs of Culverhouse students, was funded and is still supported by Bruno and his family.
Bruno married Lee Ann Bruno in 1982. They have one son, Ronald Gregory Bruno, Jr.
