2018 Issue 4 Jul/Aug - Focus Mid-South Magazine

lgbt ally
MEMPHIS GROCER
RICK
JAMES
GIVES BACK TO THE COMMUNITY HE LOVES
by Dana Cooper | photos by Addie James
Inside the corporate offices of
Castle Retail Group, the operating
entity behind Cash Saver food
outlet, Rick James is kept company
by an impressive collection of golf
memorabilia, collected through
the years he has participated in the
FedEx/St. Jude Classic alongside
some of the sport’s greatest athletes.
“I don’t play as much as I used to,
but it’s one of those activities that
can get me away from a moment of
working.”
The hardworking James, a
native of Cabool, Missouri,
jokes about how often he has
moved throughout his life so far.
“Memphis is my 17th change of
address card,” he says. As a child,
James spent a few years in Canada
before moving to Illinois and then
Kentucky, where he graduated high
school, met his wife, Cathy, and
finished college before heading to
the Mid-South.
Having been in Memphis for
31 years, James considers the city
his true home, and he will defend
it against suburban naysayers.
“People who live on the outskirts
just don’t understand what a cool
place this is,” he says, citing the
music and food scenes that get
such great press and reviews from
visitors to the city. “Sometimes, I
don’t even think we as Memphians
recognize just what we’ve got. It’s a
little bit of an inferiority complex,
I think.”
After arriving in Memphis,
James spent a few decades
managing and improving other
grocery stores before taking the
helm of Piggly Wiggly prior to its
closure and subsequent conversion
to Cash Saver. Currently, his
group operates three Cash Saver
locations, including its flagship
store at 1620 Madison. The
popular Madison Growler Shop,
located inside the Madison Avenue
store, was created according to his
son Taylor’s vision. James credits
this vision for Cash Saver and the
Growler Shop’s fourth consecutive
first-place finish in The Memphis
Flyer’s Best of Memphis awards for
Best Beer Selection (Store).
On a personal level, James’
daughters Addie and Lauren have
inspired him to grow in ways
that challenged a mindset that
was the result of his traditional,
conservative upbringing. “I was not
raised with a progressive attitude
toward inclusion,” James says. “My
daughters have been advocates and
allies for the LGBTQ+ community
from early in their high school
years, primarily in support of
close friends who were struggling
with family pressure and peer
negativity.”
James says that growing close to
his daughters’ friends helped him
realize that it wasn’t enough to sit
idly by while they faced prejudice
and hate. “[My daughters] instilled
in me that the right thing to do
is to be caring, supportive and
to stand against inequality in all
forms.”
His stand against inequality
has also informed many of his
decisions at Cash Saver. Not
wanting to create additional
burdens in his customers’ lives,
James says the stores’ pricing model
– source-to-shelf pricing – allows
him and his three store managers
to purchase the lowest-cost items
and keep overhead low. This creates
a low-price ripple effect throughout
the store, one that doesn’t rely on
limited-time sale prices in order for
customers to realize the savings.
“If we can save people on what
they spend at the grocery store,
they have more money available
for things like utilities, rent, and
transportation to a job.”
James is also on the board of
directors of the Mid-South Food
Bank, which works to eliminate
hunger and food insecurity
throughout the region. He and
his wife Cathy devote their time
to supporting other causes in the
Memphis area, as well, including
the Ragin’ Cajun Crawfish
Festival to support Porter-Leath,
Memphis’ leading child advocacy
center. Cash Saver hosts the event’s
Gumbo Cookoff. The WLOK
Black Film Festival, which will be
held later in 2018, will also receive
Cash Saver’s support.
When not hard at work, James
enjoys taking in theatre with
his family, a nod to his days
performing on stage as a teen.
Nights at home usually find him
enjoying some quality television
programming with his wife and
daughters, particularly “Queer
Eye for the Straight Guy” – he
admits getting emotional over
the show from time to time – and
“RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Without
hesitation, James names his
favorite queen: BenDeLaCreme.
“She took herself right out of it,”
James says of DeLa’s controversial
decision to eliminate herself from
the competition during the show’s
sixth season. “I was heartbroken.”
Through his work in the
community and his devotion to
his family, James’ philosophy of
compassion toward and acceptance
of all people is one that is easy to
see in action. “I think God made
us all different, just to see if we
were up to the challenge,” James
says. “It would be too easy to love
all your neighbors if they were
exactly like you.”
Page 12 / focusmidsouth.com / JUL+AUG 2018 / Splash