From Our Print Edition

In April 2009, Warren Thayer and I were taking our annual hike up A Mountain in Tempe, Ariz. — an annual tradition for us during the NFRA Executive Conference. We’d sit at the top of this beautiful mountain, watching the planes fly into Sky Harbor as the sun began to set. It’s a peaceful place to clear your mind and give thanks.

JOHNNY & GARY

The previous evening, I’d had a conversation with retailer friends (and retired service members) Johnny Harris and Gary Spinazze, and my mind was racing. The tragedy of 9/11 lingered, and I wanted to do something special to support our first responders and service members — something our entire industry could get behind — and I wanted to honor companies going above and beyond to help those who serve. My wife had already told me that I talked about the Retail Patriot Awards in my sleep, and she was curious. (Little did I know that for years I snored and had full-on conversations. I now have a CPAP machine. She sleeps like a baby, and so do I.)

That previous night’s conversation with my retailer friends was all I could think about as Warren, industry friend Len Rosinski and I started the hike. We reached the top in record time — mind you, this was 15 years ago. As we were enjoying the glorious view, Len asked when Warren and I were going to start our own trade journal. “You guys aren’t getting any younger,” he said. Warren and I were stunned but excited. Len smiled and started the easy hike back down A Mountain; I knew that the Retail Patriot Award would not create itself and that my longtime friend Warren and I had much to discuss.

On May 22, 2009, Warren and I resigned from our positions at Refrigerated & Frozen Foods Retailer and the first issue of Frozen & Refrigerated Buyer rolled out that August. We had help from a hard-working and talented staff that grew over the years: Denise Leathers, Michael Friedman, George Anderson, Janet Matz, Bob Anderson, Geneiene Van Someren, Betty Vandenberg and more. We also had support from many industry friends — a list too long to share here, but you know who you are.

50 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

Warren and I had 50 years of combined industry experience in publishing during which we learned everything we could about editorial, marketing sales and client services. As employees, we kept a mental list of how we would run our own business when we had the chance. We paid close attention to the good and bad decisions made by our employers and scoured business publications looking for examples of excellence. When friends and co-workers talked about the stuff they were dealing with at work, we listened. And we paid attention to stories of inspirational leaders. We wanted to ensure that we’d get it right when it was our turn.

To us, “getting it right” meant creating a sustainable trade journal by:

—Building a magazine that can adapt and persist, including a major migration from office to home delivery during COVID.

—Creating a journal that keeps customers satisfied for the long term.

—Cultivating a culture that attracts and rewards talented people.

—Developing relationships with and earning the trust of every customer, vendor, employee and reader.

Today, we understand that maintaining our mission of “helping retailers sell more product, more profitably” takes a daily concerted effort. We’ve learned you have to promote and demonstrate your values if you want them to persist. We will grow our company by building trust through communication with our employees, customers and readers. While it’s impossible to achieve perfection every day, we do all we can to do right by them. All roads lead back to the customer. When we fall short, our clients can trust us to make things right. Steve Covey, author of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, noted that “Trust is the glue of life. It’s an essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”

Our culture of trust and communication — and your continued support — will drive our success for the next 15 years. Thank you!

Paul Chapa is co-founder & publisher of Frozen & Refrigerated Buyer.