Photo courtesy of Jason Schroeder.
Jason Schroeder stands beside his father Roger at Sexton’s Seafood in Vestavia Hills on Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. After 30 years of business, Roger Schroeder passed the business to his son.
Roger Schroeder decided to continue his father-in-law’s legacy by bringing Sexton’s Seafood from Destin, Florida to Alabama. Now, his son, Jason, is continuing that legacy after more than 30 years and three generations of serving fish to the community.
Sexton’s Seafood is a seafood market in Vestavia Hills that has served the community for more than 24 years, after serving Homewood for six years.
“I’ve worked here my whole life, basically,” Jason said.
It began when he was barely able to reach above the counter, he said. He got his start waiting on customers and as he got older learned to fillet fish, got involved with production and eventually grew into a management role.
He said he remembers working in the market with his grandmother, his dad and his younger sister.
“Just by hanging out with us, he learned the ropes,” Roger said. “You learn the positive things about the business - hard work, honesty and customer service.”
Roger got the idea to open the market from his wife’s family, he said. His father-in-law owned a Sexton’s Seafood market in his wife’s hometown of Destin, Florida, for 45 years, Roger said.
“We saw a need up here and we have family here so we thought we’d give it a shot,” Roger said. “My wife said she’d never live in Alabama or sell seafood again and here we are.”
Roger said he and Jason have talked about him taking over Sexton’s for several years but never put pressure on any of his children to take over the business. As they both got older, Roger decided that Jason was the best choice to run the business, Roger said.
“It’s always been a family-owned business, for three generations,” Roger said. “It’s a win-win situation, both for the family and for him.”
Jason said he intends on maintaining the tradition and quality of the market while also updating the store and their equipment as well as keep up with “the evolution of the business.”
“We’ve learned in retail that it’s not necessarily about what we like,” Roger said. “You can’t be comfortable in retail. You have to adapt, all the time, to your customers’ needs.”
Jason said he’s been thinking about offering customers prepared foods, a wider selection and maybe grab-and-go items for their customers.
“I guess in this faster world we live in, a lot of homes don’t have the time to make home-cooked meals and sit around the table and all of that. As things go on, we’ve learned that these products are incentive moneymakers,” Roger said.
Roger said one of the main reasons Sexton’s is still open is their customers. He said they’ve established a community through Sexton’s Seafood, having personal relationships with most of their customers. Some customers come in just to talk to them, he said.
“After 30 years, you know everybody’s name, their families, their children, the uncle with no teeth, we know them all,” Roger said.
“I’ve had grandmothers come in whose grandkids are now grown with their own children,” Jason said. “These are the same people I’ve known as babies, all the way up to being married and having children.”
They said Sexton’s Seafood has been through a lot over the several years they’ve been in business. They’ve been through the 2010 BP oil spill that affected Gulf Shores which forced them to live off of one paycheck for a month, Hurricane Katrina, the COVID-19 pandemic and the death of Jason’s younger sister and Roger’s middle child, Jamie.
Jamie died late in 2021 after battling cancer, Roger said. She was a big part of their business, being responsible for the sides such as crab cakes and salads, he said.
“We carry on her tradition, we honor all of her recipes to make her proud of us,” Roger said.
