Women in Grocery By Marcy Nathan with McNally Sislo Photos by Channing Candies
G
o to just about any crawfish boil, and you will likely find a man in charge of the pot — and other men standing around, debating what to put in it. Corn, potatoes, garlic, onions and lemons are a given; Brussels sprouts and pineapple, not so much.
What might come as a surprise is that a woman buys all of the live Louisiana crawfish we sell at Rouses Markets — more than 4 million pounds every crawfish season. Denise Englade is our Director of Seafood. She has worked in seafood almost her entire career. “I was a young mother of three boys living in Washington State, and I needed insurance. I went to my local Safeway and applied for a job making sandwiches. The store manager knew that I was raised in Louisiana, and that I had worked in a sandwich shop that also had a small seafood display. He said, ‘We will pay you $3.50 an hour to make sandwiches, or $6.50 an hour to work in seafood.’ It was a no-brainer. “I went from part-time in seafood, to full-time, to running the seafood department at that Safeway, then at other stores in
From left: ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Director of Seafood Denise Englade has worked in seafood almost her entire career. Denise buys all of the live Louisiana crawfish we sell at Rouses Markets — more than 4 million pounds every crawfish season. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Director of Beer, Wine & Spirits Julie Joy’s specialty is private label. Julie is growing private label for Rouses Markets, so expect some great value bottles to stock up on. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Beer, Wine & Spirits merchandiser Jourdan Dorsey oversees our programs at stores from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Orange Beach, Alabama. She has been with Rouses Markets since 2012. 6 0 R O U S E S M A R C H | A P R I L 20 22
Washington State, and eventually worked my way into a director’s role. “When my mom developed Parkinson’s, I knew it was time to come home. I saw an ad for Rouses Markets that said, ‘We are looking for good people,’ and I reached out to the Director of Human Resources. ‘I’m good people,’ I told him. “I’m now on my second stint at Rouses Markets. When my parents got really sick, Rouses Markets allowed me take some time off to care for them. Eventually, I had to step away to care for them full-time.” When Denise was ready, Rouses Markets hired her back. “When I was starting out in Washington State, they were just putting seafood departments in grocery stores; seafood fell under the meat market, and all of the meat managers were men. Most of the stores I direct for Rouses Markets have seafood departments. Most of our stores even feature seafood boiling rooms. There are more and more women in the business, which is really encouraging, and I am working with more women on the vendor side. Two of my three seafood merchandisers are women.
