Company Blog

Famous

by Adam Zack — July 31, 2024

Famous people need groceries too.

Famous people go grocery shopping, too. Well, probably not the SUPER famous. I’m pretty sure you won’t see Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce on the aisle looking for paper towels. Tom Cruise most likely has someone to shop for him and Barack and Michelle Obama probably use Instacart. Being in this business for so long, I have encountered many celebrities over the years. I was a grocery bagger when I saw Henry Winkler loading his groceries into his car. The Fonz saw me gawking and gave me an autographed photo. Robin Williams once held the door of a taxi for me, my brothers and dad in San Francisco (although I think we were just drunk and took his cab.) Barry Manilow was a regular shopper in Palm Springs, as was Suzanne Somers (who really had a thing for organic produce.) I once bagged groceries for Dick Clark, who was a very nice man. Bob Hope and Gerald Ford were regulars, and I’ve been in Barbara Sinatra’s house. There’s many more I can’t recall right now. But never did I think I would become friends with someone famous. Friends, as in I have his number and he has mine and we talk regularly. So who is this famous person? Well, if you’re under 40 you probably won’t know who Dennis Conner is. If you know anything about sailing, you know about Dennis Conner. He won three America’s Cup races, won an Olympic bronze medal, and has won 28 world championships. He has met and personally knows three American presidents, has been on the cover of many magazines and is known as America’s Captain. Sailing became popular to watch on TV solely because of him. You can check him out here. I remember watching him challenge for and win the America’s Cup on TV in 1987. He made sailing exciting to watch. So imagine my surprise when one day I’m walking across the parking lot of my store and this guy pull up next to me and says “Hi, I’m Dennis Conner and I really love your store.” What!!? Now he brings me tomatoes from his garden, gave me the hat off his head because I said I liked it and invites me to watch sporting events with him. Yesterday I walked in to see him and he said “My hero!”. Wait, what? Me? No way. My wife calls him my new “BFF”. So what’s the point of this tale, really? There isn’t one, except that famous people need groceries, too. I just felt like telling the story of one of the superstars from my youth, and that it’s very cool to influence an influencer.