Jae Scott is dedicated to serving the community through the Market’s mission. (Photo by Kate Kimmel)
The COO of The Market at 25th stepped down from his district manager position at The Kroger Company to return to the neighborhood where it all began.
By Mary Margaret Clouse
As Jae Scott walks through The Market at 25th, he greets customers and employees alike with a hello and a handshake.
For nearly four years, Scott has been the chief operating officer of The Market at 25th, a full-service grocery store located in a food desert in downtown Richmond, Virginia.
“I started as a bagger, as a kid in high school,” Scott said.
Working in a grocery store changed his life, Scott said. He grew up in Church Hill as an only child, and this first job taught him to interact with people and solve problems. Helping customers has always been his favorite part of the job. Later, he went on to work at Kroger, where he was promoted up the corporate ladder.
When the Market’s store developer Norm Gold first approached him, Scott hesitated to return to an independent grocery store. Once he learned about the store’s mission, however, he was all in.
“What I was missing in my career at the corporate chain was that one-on-one interaction, that passion,” Scott said.
That passion is palpable at the Market. Scott knows all of his employees and many of the store’s customers by name. As greetings and jokes are tossed around the store, it is easy to believe that these people truly love their jobs.
What’s missing is the financial stability of a corporate grocery chain. The Market at 25th is just the opposite—as much an experiment as a nutritional oasis.
“People always ask us, ‘How did you do it? How did you make this store successful? How did you last?’” Scott said. “We haven’t. Not yet. We’re attempting things that people don’t normally attempt, and we’ve had some successes along the way, but it’s not there yet.”
Backed by businessman and philanthropist Steve Markel, the Market does not need to be overly concerned with making a profit, so Scott and his team can focus on helping the community.
“We knew from day one that the mission was going to be folks who are passionate about serving the community through healthy foods and healthier choices,” Scott said.
When hiring employees, the Market seeks people focused on the community who would also benefit from a job at the Market. About 60% of the store’s employees live in Church Hill.
“We had people get their first house. Several people bought cars for the first time,” Scott said.
One employee was homeless for 30 years, but now works at the Market and lives in a nearby apartment.
For Scott, working at the Market is about getting back to the neighborhood and the people he used to work with. Every day as he drives to work, Scott feels determined to overcome the challenges of keeping the Market at 25th going strong, so that at the end of the day, he’s improved the lives of the people in his community.
That, he says, is the greatest payoff of all.