Stakeholder Spotlight: The Women of Meat and Seafood

Kowalski's Markets is one of very few female-owned grocery retailers in the country, but this should not be such a unique phenomenon. Women drive most consumer purchases in their households, so it makes sense that they should help shape the future of the retail grocery industry. In particular, the Meat & Seafood Department has historically been male-dominated, but the demographics are starting to shift. We are delighted to highlight two talented women exploring careers in our Meat & Seafood Department, where they are just beginning to change the face of the service counter.

Alex Evenson, who works at our Lyndale Market, began working for Kowalski's while in high school and continued into college. During a holiday break, she was asked to help in the Meat Department and afterwards helped whenever she was on break from school. After graduating, she got a permanent position in the Meat & Seafood Department and worked herself up to Seafood Lead. Alex says what inspires her most is how many opportunities she's been given to build her capacity. She describes her managers as extremely encouraging, helpful, and always willing to answer questions and share their knowledge.

Christeen Langreder is the newest Meat & Seafood Manager at our Oak Park Heights Market and a seafood display artist extraordinaire. She got her start as a chef in the Deli Department, where she would often need certain cuts of meats for special orders. Christeen would watch the guys behind the service counter work and was curious about where the cuts she needed came from. She requested cross-training to learn more, and within a year, Christeen was a Meat Department employee. She has since worked her way up to being the company's only female Meat & Seafood Manager! Christeen says she is incredibly proud of the amazing programs and products that we have at Kowalski's Markets, and she loves to share her insights on them with both her customers and fellow stakeholders.

Overwhelmingly, both women expressed that the main driver of success was a welcoming and inclusive environment where knowledge was freely shared and their talents, skills and drive were recognized and appreciated. They are humble and do not consider the impact they have on others, but seeing more women behind the Meat & Seafood Service Counters will encourage even more women to seek similar roles. This in turn creates a larger talent pool for senior leadership positions, where the true power to shape the future resides. At Kowalski's, we promise to never stop striving for equitable representation in all positions in our company so that our people, from behind the counter to the top executives, are as diverse and unique as our amazing customers.

Watch a time-lapse of Christeen setting her seafood case: