ROUSES_NovDec2021_Magazine-Pages-NEW

ida hits home

500-gallon fuel tanks behind select locations in each market for our team members to be able to get fuel to fill up their vehicles, so they would have to worry about that. They had gas to get back and forth, rather than spending five or six hours in a gas station line.” Many team members were personally affected by the loss of homes and property. To help them recover, the company estab- lished a $100,000 Rouses team member disaster relief fund. It was later opened up for vendors and suppliers as well. Employee pay in affected areas was also boosted to help make life a little easier for everyone. Because the company is headquartered in Houma, Rouses was mindful to help out its home community. “We were not forgetting about our folks down here,” says Acosta. Groups came down and cooked hot meals for anyone in the community who was hungry, started regular community events, and dedicated part of parking lots in various store locations to the Salvation Army, which also provided hot meals to people struggling after the storm. “Hurricane season is basically another season for us, like preparing for football season or Christmas,” says Acosta. “It’s an unfortunate reality that disasters affect us, and part of our business is to prepare for them, to be here for our communities.” The most important thing, he says, is the safety of Rouses team members and customers. To that end, after storms, stores open as late as possible, but still close early enough for team members to get home safely. The team, says Donny Rouse, has really stepped up for the community and each other. “I just want to thank our employees for the hard work that they’ve done,” he says. “Last year, we had seven or so storms hit all our markets. This year, we had just one so far, but we took the sort of direct hit that we’d never really want to take. But our employees and our buildings held up extremely well, and we were able to open quickly and safely, get groceries on shelves, and serve as communities in need. The team did a phenomenal job.”

they came in, and that we had truckloads of products continuing to roll them in immedi- ately after the storm and until this day, was very welcome for communities, who needed recovery supplies.” Getting those supplies to stores operating in the middle of a literal disaster is no small effort. Wholesalers were as affected as everyone else. “At the same time,” says Acosta, “we had to find ways to get products out stores, so we had to think outside the box.” The Rouses team worked directly with vendors and manufacturers, and when possible, bypassed wholesale suppliers until they could get on two feet. “We had truck- loads of products shipped directly from the manufacturer or the vendor warehouses straight into our stores.” After the storm, with most areas without power and with heavy traffic on roads during the day, trucks rolled overnight and arrived at three o’clock in the morning at stores. “That’s how we overcame that challenge and were getting grocery products in our stores.” That required having staff onsite to receive the shipments, unload the inventory, and set up the stores for customers. Because many Rouses team members were affected, the corporate office had to figure out how to help make life easier for them. “People were having trouble getting fuel for their cars due to the long fuel lines. It was another problem we had to face, and the solution we came up with was to have

a chainsaw, I moved buggies — whatever it took to get through this thing and get our stores open safely,” says Merrell. PROTECTING THE TEAM According to Tim Acosta, the director of advertising and marketing for Rouses Markets, Hurricane Ida was “a fastball.” “It came quickly and seemed to come out of nowhere,” he says. Once it was clear that a storm was coming — and with a perilous track, at that — hurricane prepa- ration began. “We already have hurricane plans in place where all we have to do is pull the trigger.” The company immediately began rolling out extra loads of water and other supplies generally useful to customers during hurricanes, including bread, batteries, non-perishable foods, packaged meats, cold cuts, and snacks. After the storm, with limited staff and limited hours, customers were able to return, though in controlled numbers, so that checkout lines were not overwhelmed. Office support personnel were directed to stores near their homes to supplement teams. The entire response was a lifeline for local communities. “They were so appreciative,” says Acosta. “Nobody could believe that we were able to open so fast. We were the first grocery stores to open immediately after the storm. The fact that we had products ready for them when

51 WWW. ROUSES . COM