By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka’s Sea Mart made national news in a feature story about the challenges of getting groceries to far reaches of the U.S. during the COVID-19 emergency.
Max Rule stands by a bike rack at Seamart Quality Foods in this photo he provided to USA Today. (Photo provided to Sentinel)
The story appeared in Monday’s online edition of USA Today with the extensive headline: “The Grocery Store at the End of the World: How a Small-town Alaska Grocer Kept Prices Even, Raised Pay during the Pandemic.”
The feature, by Courtney Crowder of the Des Moines Register, is part of a series about America’s Food Chain, focusing on “workers feeding America during the pandemic” through “a series of intimate portraits,” said a May 5 story in USA Today announcing the series.
The story focusing on Sitka walks the reader through the process of getting food through the supply chain to this town in Southeast Alaska, using milk as one example, and featuring Sea Mart’s President and Chief Financial Officer Max Rule.
“While most grocery stores receive deliveries at least once a day, Sitka is bound to the barge, completely dependent on the supply chain staying intact,” Crowder writes. “Any hitch in the system and the effects ripple outward, resulting in an empty Alaskan plate – or very dry bowl of cereal.”
Rule is photographed by the Sea Mart bike rack, with Mt. Edgecumbe in the background, on a typical gray Sitka day. Another photo shows Rule at the the front of the store.
Rule says the story featured him more than he expected, but that he hopes it also sheds light on the hard work of the Sea Mart team during the pandemic.
“I was kind of humbled by the whole thing, honestly,” he said, after seeing the story on Monday.
Rule said he and Sea Mart were chosen for the story after the writer reached out to a national grocery association to do a story about a grocer in a remote area.
“They said ‘talk to Max.’” Rule told the Sentinel. “I’ve been sharing some of the things that have been happening here, especially with our economic situation going forward,” he said. “The story is a little bit more about me than I anticipated.”
He said he hopes the story brings to light for others around the U.S. the importance of a grocery store in the community.
The story quotes Rule, “In times of crisis, whether it’s a death in the family, loss of a job, a good, solid pandemic – which we’ve never experienced before – I think people want something they can count on. They want something that they know is going to be there.”
Being interviewed for the story also triggered other thoughts about his community and the grocery business.
“It got me thinking and reflecting about what I’ve done, what I’m doing,” Rule said. “It was very introspective. ... I also think it brings to light our vulnerability to the food supply chain. If we’re cut off from Seattle we’re going to feel that. There’s not a lot we can do about that. It shapes how we shop, what we put in our pantry, the cost of groceries. I really am sensitive to the cost of groceries in the community. We still try to keep prices as low as possible and still be a viable business.”
Rule said being interviewed for the story also prompted thoughts about the future of Sitka and the hits to the community from the pandemic, including the loss of the cruise ship season.
“Yes, we’re getting $14 million in CARES Act funds, but those are just temporary solutions,” he said. “It does not carry the community and build for the future.”
But he added that Sitka is also a resilient community.
“I’m still amazed how resilient Sitka is,” he said. “If we run out of paper products, or the barge is late, people understand that. It’s a very forgiving community.”
The online version of the USA Today story includes a two-minute video shot of Sitka, by Rule. The printed version of the story is expected to appear in Wednesday’s edition of the national newspaper, Rule said.
The series involved dozens of writers in the Gannett newspaper chain covering such food chain topics as a meat packing plant, an oyster farmer and migrant workers.
In describing the purpose of the series, USA Today said: “Food workers have faced great risks to keep America fed, and we wanted to focus a spotlight on some of the people in the food chain.’’
The link to the story is at:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/pr/2020/05/05/usa-today-network-launches-series-focused-workers-feeding-america-during-covid-19-pandemic/5172531002/.
You can also get there by typing “Sea Mart USA Today” in Google
