*Kyle’s parents, Steve and Vicki DeLaughter, come out of retirement to help stock groceries.*

*Kyle with his meat market team: Dayton Miller, Debbie Durham, Walt Miller (market manager), and Daniel Miller.*

The Coronavirus is still at full force around the world while life steadily goes on. DeLaughter’s Grocery in Maud has continued to stay open during this uncertain time as an essential business. This pandemic has caused much confusion and uncertainty in many people’s lives, but DeLaughter’s Grocery has been a constant source of crucial products for the community. They value serving their customers and will continue trying their best to be available.

DeLaughter’s Grocery is a local business with the most hardworking employees. Kyle DeLaughter is the current owner of his family’s grocery store. The store was founded in 1977 by Kyle’s grandfather then later run by his father. During 2007, the business was passed down to Kyle.

Kyle graduated from Texas A&M University in Commerce and was recruited by a car dealership in Dallas. After working in the corporate sector for about a year, Kyle had a gut feeling that he should run his own business. He was untrained when it came to the grocery business, but he always had a knack for selling things and earning money in order to buy what his heart desired.

DeLaughter’s Grocery has many departments unique to them. They have a restaurant and hot deli where customers can get fresh and delicious food. The menu ranges from fresh fried chicken, pizza, cheeseburgers, milkshakes, philly cheesesteaks, the list goes on! Kyle mentioned that his employees do an incredible job, and he’s amazed at what they’re able to “crank out” of their modest kitchen. Every year, the deli has had an increase in sales since 2007 when the business was passed down to Kyle. Hopefully, we will see nothing less in the years to come.

Similarly, the meat department is very special to DeLaughter’s Grocery. Walt Miller of Pennsylvania is their meat market manager. Although Walt isn’t a Texas native, he’s been a butcher for over 27 years and understands the expectations of people in the community.

*DeLaughter Grocery Market in the early 1980s.*

There are four workers total that hold up the meat market. “They all do an excellent job,” commented Kyle. They get four deliveries each week of fresh meat, and they consistently source the best prices and values for their customers. “Frankly, we have the lowest prices than anywhere we’ve ever seen. Anywhere. Our meat market works hand in hand with the hot deli to provide them with fresh hamburger, pork chops, etc. so it works very well for us.” Kyle DeLaughter values the work of his employees as well as giving his customers the best quality food, prices, and service that he possibly can provide.

Kyle said that this pandemic reminds him of the ice storm that happened during the year 2000. He was 17 at the time, and his family had lost power at home. Every day, for two weeks they slept in the living room by the fire to keep warm. They would wake up at the break of dawn, hustle at the grocery store until sunset, go home, start another fire, and go to sleep. “We didn’t fully understand what was happening. We just took it day by day, and every day was spent working at the grocery store,” Kyle said.

During the time of the ice storm, six new employees were hired, three of which were laid off from restaurants. Five of those six employees are still working at DeLaughter’s Grocery today.

*Kyle’s wife, Jillian, helps him and his staff in the meat department at DeLaughter’s Grocery.*

Throughout these past couple of months, each night when the store closes, Kyle has five employees strip and wax the floors in preparation for the next day. They are doing their best to keep the store as clean as possible. “Selling groceries is a very fluid atmosphere,” said Kyle. Things are constantly changing, and competition is relentless. Kyle has learned that you have to adjust and continuously be creative to be able to get customers in and out the door. Humbly, he knows that life happens, and he doesn’t always get it right but he continues to problem-solve daily. “We cherish what we have and try our very best,” noted Kyle.

Since the middle of March, Kyle and his employees haven’t been able to have their weekly Bible studies. Every Sunday morning, for the past year, Pastor Jay Launius would come and give a 15-minute devotional before the grocery store started its day. Kyle spoke for everyone at DeLaughter’s Grocery when he voiced how much he misses those Bible studies.

Before COVID-19 hit, Kyle would purchase the store’s groceries from one main source. Then the pandemic hit and now there are around seven 18-wheelers delivering products to their little store every day. It got to a point where Kyle was buying fresh meat from seven different sources, and they were still selling out. Kyle mentioned that he drove to Shreveport two nights in a row to buy thousands of pounds of fresh hamburger meat in order to have it available for his customers. They ended up selling 20,000 pounds of hamburger meat in two weeks, which is what they normally sell within a year.

*During the late afternoon of one of the busiest days in the 43 years of the store, Kyle and Jillian found out that they are having a boy.*

The grocery store could’ve turned into complete chaos if it wouldn’t have been for Kyle’s 35 total employees. Many days, every single worker was on the clock from open to close. There were customers coming from Genoa, Fouke, and even Mount Pleasant. It didn’t seem possible to fit the amount of customers they had into their compact store, but they made it happen.

Kyle’s parents, Steve and Vicki DeLaughter, retired in 2007. When Kyle realized that he was desperate for some extra hands to help stock groceries, Steve and Vicki were there without hesitation. Kyle’s wife, Jillian, was also there in a heartbeat. He said, “It was the coolest thing having mom, dad, and my wife all by my side serving customers. Never have I been so proud of what my family built here back in 1977, and the employees that have worked with us through the years.”

Feature Stories

A Family Legacy