A local woman is about to make her way to the West Coast in competition for a national title: Best Bagger.

Kathleen Maroun, a finalist in the National Grocers Association’s Best Bagger Championship, will be in San Diego on Feb. 24 competing against 22 other elite baggers from various states for a major title and a $10,000 cash prize.

“If you’re going to do something, you better do something seriously,” Maroun said, thinking back to how it all started.

She was first nominated in October by her managers at the Downtown Crossing Roche Bros. Since then, Maroun trained and competed alongside 14 other employees at the company level.

Congratulations to #DowntownCrossing associate Kathleen. She won the #MassachusettsStateBaggingCompetition hosted by @NationalGrocers earlier today. Kathleen will move on to compete in the 2020 Best Bagger National Championship in San Diego. Good Luck Kathleen! ?#BestBagger pic.twitter.com/qkYVzjLoxx — Roche Bros. (@Roche_Bros) October 30, 2019


Then came the state level, where she said she faced off against five contestants.

“Each step farther you go there’s a little more pressure,” Maroun said. But “practice helps,” she added, laughing.

The NGA launched its first bagging contest in 1987, sparking a tradition of featuring “retailers with infectious company pride and an enthusiastic commitment to customer service,” according to the group’s website.

For Maroun, the art of bagging quickly and precisely can be precarious.

“You can’t get too focused on one aspect,” she said. “It’s a weird balancing act.”

In the days leading up to the national stage in San Diego, she’ll be timing herself, practicing her packing and evenly distributing items between each bag before weighing them.

Maroun said after every contestant finishes, the heaviest and lightest bags will be compared and the difference between the two will be subtracted from the overall score.

Nervous and excited for the contest, she said she’s always been mindful of her packing skills while working at Roche Bros.

“I always try and be very aware of how I’m bagging things anyway, because the customer, you want to make sure everything gets home alright,” Maroun said.


But now there’s a prize at stake, too.

“I’m hoping to have won,” she said of what she’s hoping will happen in San Diego. But more than that, she’s hoping to remember the encouragement people have given her along the way.

“The support that I’ve been shown during this process, I hope that that continues,” Maroun said. “It’s been really nice to feel that support behind you.”