Honoring The OG of Top Women in Grocery
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Two of the highlights of Progressive Grocer’s Top Women in Grocery (TWIG) awards program calendar are the June issue, in which the honorees are featured, and the Grocery Impact event in November, during which TWIG-centric educational sessions take place in the lead-up to a gala celebration where the awards are distributed. Perhaps less well known are such components as our Top Women in Grocery monthly podcast series, whose guests discuss a wide range of topics relating to women’s experiences in the grocery industry.
In another example of PG’s TWIG-year-round mindset, we recently presented our first-ever honorary Trailblazer Award to a highly deserving recipient: Winn-Dixie’s very own Romay Davis. For the occasion, I traveled to Montgomery, Ala., to bestow the award in person.
Many PG readers may be already familiar with Ms. Romay, as she’s affectionately known. Born Oct. 29, 1919, in Virginia, she enlisted in the Army in 1943 as a private first-class in the U.S. Army 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. At a time when women and people of color faced discrimination, her predominantly Black, all-female battalion cleared backlog in just three months by sorting an average of 195,000 pieces of mail per day. After her military service, for which she later received the American Congressional Gold Medal, Ms. Romay became a NYU multidegree scholar, worked in real estate and fashion, earned a black belt in taekwondo, and rejoined the workforce as a Winn-Dixie associate in 2001, when she was more than 80 years old.
In 2020, Winn-Dixie parent company Southeastern Grocers launched the Romay Davis Belonging, Inclusion and Diversity Grant in her honor.
What Matters
Following a simple ceremony held in the produce department at Ms. Romay’s store, where she still shops regularly, I had the chance to speak with her. Having tried real estate after relocating to Alabama and deciding it wasn’t for her, she started working at a nearby Winn-Dixie, where she essentially carved out her own position, keeping product neatly arranged on shelves and greeting customers: “It’s those things that matter.” About the only thing she didn’t wish to do was work at a cash register, since “I can’t stand still in one place.”
Asked how she would help someone just starting out in the grocery business, Ms. Romay pragmatically replied: “I would try to coach the person: What do you like to do? And show them how to do what they wanted to do. Then when they had to do [something,] they would know how to do it.”
Also in attendance at the event were store manager Bobby Godwin – whom Ms. Romay describes as “a fantastic person to work with” – and her besties from the store, Frankie, Dixie and Angela, who offered warm hugs and some catfish for her to take home and eat later.
The Legacy Continues
As I noted in my brief remarks at the award ceremony, we at PG decided to honor Ms. Romay not only for her years of dedicated service at Winn-Dixie, but also for the many groundbreaking achievements of her extraordinary life, and the inspiration she continues to provide for her colleagues, friends and admirers in Montgomery and across the country.
Despite her long list of accomplishments over an eventful 104 years of existence, Ms. Romay remains modest, describing her approach to life and work in simple terms: “I enjoyed doing whatever I’ve done.”
The ability to find pleasure and meaning in what you do, even in the face of challenges, is an important quality in a potential Top Woman in Grocery, one we’ll be looking for as we read through this year’s nominations. In that way, Ms. Romay’s legacy will continue to influence the grocery industry, to the benefit of all.
