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Rosauers COO Mike Shirts retiring after 50 years

Rosauers customers line up March 19, 2020, before shopping at the grocery store on 29th Avenue in Spokane. Rosauers COO Mike Shirts is retiring after 50 years with the company. (DAN PELLE/The Spokesman-Review)
Rosauers customers line up March 19, 2020, before shopping at the grocery store on 29th Avenue in Spokane. Rosauers COO Mike Shirts is retiring after 50 years with the company. (DAN PELLE/The Spokesman-Review)
By Tod Stephens tods@spokesman.com(509) 459-5581

In 1974, Mike Shirts was bagging groceries at the local Rosauers Supermarket in Moscow. Numerous promotions and 50 years later, he is retiring as the chief operating officer.

He previously held a role as the senior vice president of merchandise and marketing, according to a press release from the organization.

Rosauers CEO Cliff Rigsbee said in a statement that Shirts earned his first managerial position when he was a teenager. 

“I want to congratulate him for a hugely successful career and thank him for his unbelievable contribution to our company,” Rigsbee said. “We will miss his positive attitude, willingness to help, business acumen, and his ever-constant, witty one-liners.”

When Mike started as a grocery bagger, Rosauers was a modest company.

Now, it has grown to employ approximately 2,100 workers in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana. With headquarters in Spokane, the company consists of 18 Rosauers locations, 4 Super 1 Foods locations, and a Huckleberry’s Natural Market.