GROCERY OUTLET(S) TO OPEN NEXT MONTH
Mammoth, Bishop stores target Jan. 26 grand opening date
Bargain hunters, look forward to Grocery Outlet openings in both Bishop and Mammoth in January.
Bishop’s Grocery Outlet (which will be located across the street from Wye Road Feed and Supply and just down the road from Bishop Ford) held a job fair in Bishop on Dec. 3-4. Bishop store owners Dennis and Sarah Freundt are looking to hire between 35-45 employees before the opening date.
If potential job seekers missed the two-day fair, there is still a chance to catch a second fair on December 19 and 20 at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Bishop. These interviews will be by appointment only.
The Applicants
Chalfant resident Amy Shelton Saladin, 58, is seeking work as a cashier. Previously she was a seasonal worker for Chalfant Big Trees Nursery. Saladin found out about the job fair online through indeed.com, she said.
When Saladin lived in Portland, Oregon she shopped at a Grocery Outlet. “My daughter and I affectionately call it the “Gross-Out,” she said. She noted the different and “odd” items available at Grocery Outlets.
Big Pine resident, Giselle Jiron, 45, is also looking for work. Jiron has shopped at a Grocery Outlet before, in Southern California. She likes that they sell in bulk. “[I] look forward to the opportunities, a Grocery Outlet will bring to the community,” she said.
Bishop resident, Matthew Dunaway, 57, currently works at El Pollo Loco and is applying for a position in replenishment and stocking. Dunaway has never shopped at a Grocery Outlet.
The Owners
Dennis Freundt lives with his wife Sarah in Clovis, California. They have owned a Grocery Outlet in Fresno for about a year and are selling it to move to Bishop.
“Our last day of ownership is December 14,” Dennis said. Each Grocery Outlet “is independently owned and operated, there are different rules and regulations and franchises,” he said.
According to groceryoutlet.com, the Grocery Outlet was founded “in 1946, [by] Jim Read [who] started selling military surplus for deep discounts.”
Two generations later, the stores are still run by the Read family. There are over 300 independently operated franchises in California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
Dennis and Sarah fell in love with Bishop and said they “cried and begged” to get the store.
The Store
Grocery Outlets carry a full selection of produce, fresh meats, dry goods, health and beauty products, general merchandise, and organic specialty and healthy products.
“[These] are specialty items that are vitamins or organic products.” She added, “The organic business is one of the fastest growing businesses at Grocery Outlet right now.”
All of the brands that are carried at a Grocery Outlet are name brands.
“There [are] no grocery outlet brands,” Dennis said. Grocery Outlet sets the pricing and “we get the prices because our buyers [are experts] at buying what is called ‘opportunistically,’” he said.
Their buyers go after the items that other grocers eschew. For example, if a product has stopped being produced or packaging has changed, Grocery Outlet wants it.
“So if they’re changing the box on our product, we will go in and buy it. Because the major grocery stores will not want to buy it anymore, so we’ll buy it and we buy it at pennies on the dollar,” Dennis said.
They also source products through overruns.
“If they make too much of something, they’ll do an ad or promo, and then Vons or whatever the grocery store will not sell it all, so we’ll go in and buy it. Basically, it’s an avenue for them to relieve themselves of the product and still make money. That’s how we get the majority of our pricing,” Dennis said.
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