Goodbye to the Godfather of Grocery

He arrived on the Tallassee Super Foods scene about eight years ago, after a 30-year career working as a store manager for Winn-Dixie, Red & White and other supermarkets.

Paul Gaither, who passed away Sunday evening, was a grocer of an earlier era.  He expected all of us to do our best and work hard, but did better and worked harder than most of us ever could.

While we were inside the store, it was all business.  He was in constant motion, helping customers, ordering, and stocking.  He lived to make customers happy and ensure their return to shop with us again.

Outside the store, when we had finished sweeping, mopping, and counting down our registers in the evenings, we would walk outside and listen to Mr. Paul tell us stories about his successes in the industry.  He would talk about sales promotions, loss leaders, cost cutting, and ways to make our store better.

He never, ever stopped working.  Until cancer claimed a piece of his esophagus, then his ability to swallow, and after months of treatments and suffering, his life.

Paul Gaither was a man suited for customer service.  I can speak for all of us in the Super Foods family when I say that we owe him a debt of gratitude for coming in, making a difference at the Gilmer Avenue store, and getting us off to a great start at the Notasulga Road location.

Paul worked tirelessly to bring up the quality of everyone’s work.  I started calling him “The Godfather of Grocery” because he seemed to have all the knowledge one would need to become a great grocery man.

On Sunday, we lost one of our best.  Monday’s tropical rains brought sadness and depression for us on a day that was as busy as Christmas Eve.  But everywhere I looked, I saw Mr. Paul’s influence on our store.  And I knew he was watching with an ordering machine in his hand, ready to stock those empty shelves, ready to greet all those customers with a smile and give his absolute best.

We sure will miss the Godfather of Grocery, Mr. Paul Gaither.