1-on-1 With Rachel Shemirani of Barons Market

Rachel Shemirani is SVP of Barons Market, a family-owned and -operated grocer with nine stores in Southern California.

Jennifer Strailey: What was the biggest lesson Barons Market learned in 2020 and how will that knowledge shape your business moving forward? Has being a more mature, almost 30-year-old grocer helped you to better navigate the pandemic?

Rachel Shemirani: We’ve learned so much as a retailer and grocer over the years. What has helped us in the pandemic is having everyday systems and procedures in place we could lean on. As a family-run business, we can make decisions very quickly, and we are very flexible. We’re not beholden to big wigs or a corporate office thousands of miles away. We’ve been able to implement new ideas the next day, and if it’s a disaster, we pull it. I’m a big believer that stressful times lead to the best ideas. Two to three months into the pandemic there were retailers with rows of empty shelves. We worked with restaurant distributors who had two-dozen eggs, 15-pound bags of flour and 10 pounds of spaghetti. We’d rewrap the products and sell them, as we had to make sure our shelves were filled. We had to provide peace and calm for our customers and reassure them that “we have something here for you.”

How did being a family-owned grocery business influence your pandemic response? 

My dad and his brothers started this business, and we’ve always treated employees like family. They feel respected and know that they can share ideas. We make sure they are happy, seen, heard and valued. We have employees who have battled cancer who were scared to come to work in the pandemic. We told them to go home and don’t worry about getting paid, and we still pay their salaries. We said, “we know you’re scared but we have your back.” And that brought us closer together.  

Barons Market is known for its great community events such as its Backroom Beer Pairings. I saw that you adapted this event for stay-at-home. How did customers respond, and what other ways have you continued to connect with the community during this difficult time?

We used to do so many events: pet adoption, fun runs, etc. During the pandemic, our Backroom Beer Pairings have become Backyard Beer Pairings, where we invite customers to pair a local beer with our taco recipe in the backyard with their quarantine pod. They take a picture of the pairing and tag @baronsmarket on Instagram using #baronsbackyardbeerpairing and pledge to make a donation to help those in need. In September, the pairings raised funds for the San Diego COVID-19 Community Response Fund. In March, they will raise money for local restaurants.

Barons Market just gave its second-oldest Rancho Bernardo store a face-lift. What are you most excited about with the newly renovated store? 

We’ve had the Rancho Bernardo brand for over 20 years. The renovated store is way more polished. We applied new branding and completely changed the look and feel. Now it’s a beautiful, really cool store that offers an exciting and interesting shopping experience with expanded offerings. It’s my store and the store I shop in. It marks our progress and shows our customers just how much we’ve grown.

Other than the sales increases that virtually all grocers have experienced since the start of COVID, what other business improvements, advancements, etc., has Barons realized since March? 

What the pandemic has done for the industry as a whole is to change how big grocery stores treat their employees. Essential workers are essential for a reason. We’ve spent a ton of money and time developing talent. We see that reflected in customer feedback and sales. We’ve hired some managers away from the big guys, and they say working at Barons is night and day from their previous experience. Barons offers jobs people can get excited about.

Since the start of the pandemic, e-commerce, curbside pickup and delivery has soared in grocery. What has been Barons Market’s strategy with regard to e-commerce? How important is offering these services to the business now and where do you see these services headed post-pandemic and beyond? 

We’re not doing any of it. We’re staunch opponents to e-commerce because we believe in the customer experience. People shop online with their heads, but they shop in-store with their hearts. This experience can’t be replicated online. Our customers want to pick their own apples or choose an avocado to make guacamole in two days. The grocery shopping experience is so personal. E-commerce is not in our future unless we go into an urban area with no parking. Sometimes it can feel like everyone is doing e-commerce because Walmart, Target, Amazon and Instacart are loud. I hope independent retailers don’t listen to all the chatter.

Lightning Round

What do you love most about being a part of a family-owned business? 

I love that we can be completely honest with each other, and we laugh a lot because we’re ridiculous.

Favorite thing about living in Southern California? 

Flip-flops and tacos.

If 2020 had a theme song what would it be?  

“Survivor” by Destiny’s Child.

What do you hope will be the theme song for 2021?

“I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by Whitney Houston.