ROUSES_Summer2025_Magazine PAGES web

you’re either local or you’re not

by David W. Brown Donny Rouse was around 10 years old when he started his career at Rouses Markets. “I would bring grocery carts in from the parking lot and return them to the store for customers to use,” he told me. It was a big deal in his family, a rite of passage. “It meant we were old enough to help.” That first summer, he and his cousin worked a couple days a week, three hours a day. “We knew we weren’t old enough to really do much, but it was pretty exciting to get our feet wet and try a few different things. We were so excited just to be included.” N ot that it was his first glimpse behind the scenes of the grocery business. He grew up in a house across the street from the Thibodaux location, where his dad, Donald, ran the company — which means, really, that he grew up in the stores. Every day after school, he’d drag his backpack to Rouses and plop down on the sofa in his dad’s office. Maybe he’d do his homework, but maybe he would just listen to his father, uncle and grandfather talk about business (which was its own kind of education). “I learned something every day,” said Donny. The main thing he learned, which

Anyone who’s ever grown up in a family business knows that the lessons of life and the lessons of work become intertwined. It’s not that work is life; it’s just that the two in some way become inseparable in childhood memories. Donny’s grandfather shaped his work ethic. “He showed up to work every day in his overalls and hat — I can still see it in my head — and he did everything from working operations to doing electrical and plumbing and contracting. Nothing was beneath him, nothing.” You were as likely to see him on a bulldozer as you were to see him stocking a shelf. “His mindset was: if I can do it, let me just go ahead and do it. You know, that stayed with me. To this day, if something needs to be done, I do my best to take care of it, and I think of him.” Meanwhile, he watched his dad work, and man , you didn’t do that and not learn to be passionate. “That man has so much pride in the business. You’ve never seen a man enjoy his job more than my dad. You know, when he was still working, he could tell you

still guides his work as the third-generation CEO of Rouses Markets, is to take care of the customers. “You’ve got to provide good customer service. You want to keep the customer happy.” Not long after learning to corral the parking lot carts, Donny’s dad let him work in the meat department, bagging chickens. It was messy work, but that was okay with Donny, because it was work , which — especially to a kid his age — was exciting in its own way. Later, it was a pretty big deal when he was finally allowed to help bag groceries. “You had to learn how to do it, and do it properly,” Donny said. At the time, a Rouses employee had been named Best Bagger in the Country in a contest held by the National Grocers Association, which added a competitive, almost glamorous aspect to the job, especially for a boy just beginning to learn the ropes. “We only had paper bags back in those days and it was pretty exciting. Man, you just wanted to get it right. It was an art.”

WE’RE LOYAL TO LOCAL Since 1960, we’ve worked with local farmers, fishers, brands, and makers across the Gulf Coast. That’s loyal to local and it’s how we’ve always done business.

23