Grocery Outlet's grand opening slated for Aug. 29. Business seeking full and part-time employees and will host job fair July 12-13

By Ed Martin, Editor
Grocery Outlet will host a job fair July 12 and 13 at Gateway Plaza, formerly known as Pioneer Square.The new outlet is schedule to open on Aug. 29.
Grocery Outlet will host a job fair July 12 and 13 at Gateway Plaza, formerly known as Pioneer Square.The new outlet is schedule to open on Aug. 29.

It’s official, Lemoore’s newest business, Grocery Outlet, plans to open its doors to the public on Aug. 29, becoming the city’s third major grocery store, behind longtime businesses Save Mart and Best Buy Market.

Grocery Outlet is located in the Gateway Plaza Shopping Center, formerly known as Pioneer Square at the intersection of Hanford Armona Road and Lemoore Avenue.

Customers and attendees can expect prizes, raffles, and gift cards on opening day. The longtime Lemoore shopping center, initially developed in the 1970s, is also getting a new parking lot courtesy of the owners.

Grocery Outlet’s new owners, David and Karin McKinney, are hard at work preparing the new store for its grand opening in about a month and a half. The couple, from Lakeport in Northern California, will own the new store lock stock and barrel. Hanford's Grocery Outlet is also privately owned and operated by Jared Bailey.

In preparation for a late August grand opening, Lemoore’s Grocery Outlet will host a job fair July 12 and 13 as the store seeks about 15 full time and perhaps 25 full-time employees. The two entrepreneurs have already received plenty of applications and are seeking employees with a background in grocery store operations, including knowledge of produce, grocery, stocking, and working as a cashier.

The job fair will take place at 1178 North Lemoore Avenue, beginning on Friday, July 12, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The fair will continue on Saturday, July 13, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Lemoore’s newest market is a first-time business experience for the couple. “I worked for CVS Pharmacy. I managed a store for 21 years,” said David McKinney. He explained that he’s looking forward to the challenge of running his own business. “It’s an opportunity to exit the corporate world and venture out as a small business owner,” he added.

“It’s retail, similar to what I’m used to,” said McKinney. “The opportunity for that size of store and model made it pretty interesting and  attractive.”

The Leader wrote about the new store in May and learned from its corporate headquarters – based in Emeryville, California, that Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, part of a national grocery chain, has successful locations across the West Coast.

The chain is expected to open more than 30 new locations in 2019, including Lemoore. A spokesperson for Grocery Outlet, Kelly O'Rourke, told The Leader that "Lemoore is an attractive family-friendly community for a Grocery Outlet and our independent owner-operators."

Grocery Outlet's mission is to "wow" bargain-minded customers with significant savings on name brand, high-quality merchandise, stated a corporate official.

Some version of Grocery Outlet has been around since 1946 when its founder, Jim Read, opened his first military surplus store in San Francisco. Since then the chain has grown to more than 300 locations in the United States and according to its website is the nation’s largest “extreme” value retailer.

Over the years it has evolved to what is now a major grocery outlet, carrying a wide variety of products, including fresh produce, fresh meat, deli, dairy, packaged groceries, beer and wine, frozen, health and beauty care, and general merchandise products.

There is currently a corporate Grocery Outlet in Hanford, which has been at its 7th Street location since 1989.

Grocery Outlet’s corporate headquarters, based in Emeryville in the San Francisco Bay Area, has stores in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Locally based residents independently operate the majority of Grocery Outlet's stores.

The Grocery Outlet chain is getting bigger every day. McKinney said the chain is up to 325 stores. “They’re opening literally one a day. To the best of my knowledge, three or four are corporate owned. The rest are operator owned.”

Grocery Outlet's grand opening slated for Aug. 29. Business seeking full and part-time employees and will host job fair July 12-13

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