Page 21 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2021

SCARLET PEARL
CASINO RESORT:
Casino doors were shut from March through May of 2020. Koff believes that this time was like a “reset” for the industry.
“We got to think about what was important to the customers. I think that it was a good thing to happen to our industry; it became a nice reflection on what we’re all here for in the first place, and that’s the service to the customer,” he explains.
When asked about what Scarlet Pearl did well, he emphasizes the casino’s three core pillars: being a great company for guests, employees, and the community.
Not only did the casino continue to pay employees until unemployment claims were securely in place, but the casino became a call center for the Mississippi Department of Employment Security. The executive team also called high- level guests every week.
“We knew that some of our players hadn’t been talking to anybody, that they were in their home, and they didn’t want to go out. We’d call them just to see how they were doing,” he says. “It’s Mississippians helping Mississippians, and that’s what we believe.”
Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort
9380 Central Ave., D’Iberville www.scarletpearlcasino.com
CAJUN GOURMET:
For local grocery stores, the prices of just about everything they carry or needed to use rose to astronomical heights.
“Prices for paper goods, sanitizers, and gloves rose within the first few weeks,” Snyder and Paulk remember. “Price gouging and hoarding helped to drive this. Most of the increases are still in effect today. However, we refused to increase the cost to our customers during the onset of the pandemic. We felt that with everything going on, increasing our prices would have been counterproductive.”
Not only did the store not raise its prices, but the
owners also managed to secure extra cases of paper
goods, sanitizers, and other necessities that they then sold to customers at wholesale price. They also did private shopping for the store’s high-risk customers at no additional cost.
“During troubling times, it is important to reach out to your customers. They are a company’s most important asset.”
Cajun Gourmet
20048 Pineville Rd., Long Beach 228.586.3401
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