Letter from Ali Rouse Royster

There’s a lot to be said for visiting other places, and I do love to travel, but I could not imagine living anywhere else. There are lots of reasons for me — family, food, climate and culture being way up at the top of that list. Part of that culture is what is known around the world as our famous Southern hospitality. It’s smiling and saying hi to a stranger as you pass by; it’s asking how’s ya momma-n-dem; it’s having anyone and everyone over to eat at your tailgate, no matter which team they’re rooting for. That down-home friendliness is the very fabric of our community.

Rouses is a family business, and our family is deeply rooted on the Gulf Coast, so it is natural that our company’s culture mirrors that of our community. While we are a chain of grocery stores, at our heart we are a service business, and have been since my grandfather and his cousin first opened their doors all those years ago. When you come into your local Rouses, we strive to provide you with stellar customer service. We work on this at every level — we hire people who we believe will go above and beyond to do so; we train our team on how to best serve our guests; and we’re always looking for ways we can “wow” you. This can be as straightforward as greeting shoppers in the aisles and asking if we can help find anything. Or it can be more behind the scenes, like sourcing the best products for the shelves or anticipating when our bigger “rush” times will be, to make sure we have enough cashiers and baggers working, ready to ring you up and help you on your way home. A grocery store is an essential piece of a neighborhood, of a community, and so are the people inside of it. And here on the Gulf Coast, where food is such an integral part of our heritage and our lives today, grocery stores can become an extension of our kitchens, our homes and our family.