Rouses Chairman: ‘We’ll Keep Trying To Get Better Forever’

As Rouses Markets celebrates its 65th anniversary, Chairman Donald Rouse Sr. reflects on the roots of the family-owned company and looks to the future with the third generation leading the way.

Donald Rouse Sr.

Rouse said his father, Anthony J. Rouse Sr., set the standard for the company with his humility and strong work ethic.

“He would never ask anybody to do something that he wasn’t doing himself, and he would always work alongside everyone. I think everybody respected that,” said Rouse, adding that his father was a very hands-on leader.

He noted that some employees still talk about his dad being in the store in his coveralls, “doing anything and everything that everybody else was doing. I think he began teaching the work ethic in the company.

“He would go from working in the office to getting on a bulldozer when we were doing a project.”

Family leadership continues

Rouse said while there have been many changes in the grocery industry over six decades, technology has been one of the most remarkable. He said the third-generation family members are well versed in today’s technology and “their capability has really helped the company.”

But while much has changed, one thing hasn’t.

“Family or not, everyone is treated the same and held to the same standards,” Rouse said. “We make decisions based on what’s best for everyone – not one group or one person.”

Buying local

Another thing that hasn’t changed is the company’s commitment to supporting local farmers and fishermen.

Rouse recalled working with his dad in their first grocery store when he was in his early teens. He said his dad was a farmer before he became a grocer, and farmers were always important to him.

“He always told me when a farmer comes in with a bushel of okra and they want to sell it to us, you buy it even if you don’t need it … Keep buying from local farmers. And we did that with fishermen and shrimpers as well. The memories of buying locally are not new; they go all the way back to my childhood.”

That commitment to supporting locals helped the company when it bought the southern division of A&P, Rouse said.

“We went into New Orleans and that was our theme – we’re local. We buy local. We pushed that very hard.”

People remember and talk about that support of local suppliers, Rouse said.

That focus also has helped with Rouses Markets’ recent acquisition of 10 Winn-Dixie stores. Rouse said some of the comments he has read about the transaction “is a lot about local – us being local and buying local. They love that. It’s very important.”

He also pointed out that Rouses has been a supporter of cottage industries over the years. Owners of these fledgling businesses would come to Rouses for help in getting their products on store shelves.

“We would teach them exactly what the process is … and everything that went into it. A lot of these small manufacturers we helped start, they would start with us and then expand into other stores.”

Lessons learned and passed along

When he was growing up, Rouse said he learned much about the business from his father. He continued that tradition with current CEO Donny Rouse and his cousins.

photo of Donny and Donald Rouse — Donny and Donald Rouse

“Donny, in particular, used to sit with me and listen to conversations between my father and myself in the office … I would include him in meetings, whether it be with suppliers or bankers or whatever. I think he learned a lot from those meetings. [It was] like going to school, basically,” Rouse said. “I think that’s about the best thing that we could have done for Donny.”

Young Donny absorbed that knowledge, taking advantage of an opportunity not many would have.

“I thought my father was one of the greats in the industry,” Rouse said. “And for [Donny] to have the opportunity to sit and listen to us talk about the business, strategic points and where we were going, what we were planning, I think helped shape him a lot.”

Looking ahead

Watching the third generation of Rouses “be excited about the growth and about trying to be the best in the industry and striving for nothing but greatness” is very encouraging, Rouse said. He added it was time for “new energy” to come in, especially with advances in technology.

“I wasn’t the technology guy,” he said. “I was the operator. So now we have the third generation who is very familiar with technology, very familiar with operations and they have the drive. I think that puts them in a better position than I was in.”

That knowledge was key in the recent acquisition of the 10 Winn-Dixie stores. Rouse said the third generation of leadership has a good plan and will be successful in bringing these stores under the Rouses banner.

Plans include opening the 10 stores as Rouses Markets within five weeks.

“We won’t keep them closed long enough to do a major remodel with the first go ’round, but we’re going to come back and do those later,” Rouse said.

First on the list for major remodels are the stores in the city of Central, Louisiana – near Baton Rouge, and in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

“We will rock and roll with those as soon as we can,” he said.

For the Winn-Dixie team members who will join the Rouses family, Rouse said, “We welcome them … we’ll make the transition as smooth as possible.”

He noted that employees are the heart of the stores, and he already has seen comments on social media such as, “I sure hope they keep the team members.”

He also pointed out that at Rouses, it’s family and team members running the company. “It’s not corporate people running everything.”

Rouse added that the company will continue to build stores, with a “ground-up store” in the works for 2026.

Heart of Rouses Markets

Rouses Markets takes an active part in supporting each community it serves.

“Customers realize and can see that Rouses is a part of the community,” Rouse said. “We love our customers. We try to treat each and every one of our customers as if we have to earn their business every day. I hope they see us being partners with the communities. That’s very important to us.”

He added that the company gives back to its communities. This year, Rouse said it gave $500,000 to local food banks. It also sponsors sports teams, from professional organizations such as the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans to high school and Little League teams, “from Lake Charles to Orange Beach, being in the community and being a part of the community,” he said.

And when disaster strikes, those communities can count on Rouses to be there.

“We’re the last one to close and the first to open,” Rouse said. “Been doing that since my father ran the business in the ’60s. If a hurricane comes, they can count on Rouses to be open as fast as we can after the storm passes and stay open as long as we safely can before the storm approaches.

“Nobody does it better than Rouses. We have a disaster plan like no other, I would say. Other stores will be closed, and we’ll be operating on generators. People recognize that, and they remember that.”

Reflecting on how far Rouses has come in 65 years, Rouse said he thinks his father would be amazed at the progress.

“But he wouldn’t be satisfied,” Rouse said. “He would say, ‘What’s next?’”

Rouse answered that question by confirming that the company will continue to grow and get better.

“I want to be mentioned in the same sentence with Publix and Wegmans and H-E-B as far as quality of operation,” he said. “And we’re not going to stop until we are. And we’ll never be there, in my mind, so I guess we’ll keep trying to get better forever.”