Grocery Outlet set to open doors in Airway Heights

In a bygone time, the neighborhood grocery store with a familiar face behind the counter punching the keys on the cash register was the staple of Americana.

The Grocery Outlet chain, which opens a new location at the end of this month at Hayford Crossing in Airway Heights, returns at least a portion of that way to buy groceries to the area, but it's all wrapped up in brand new packaging.

The new grocery discounter plans a soft opening Thursday, Sept. 29 in the business development on the southwest corner of U.S. Highway 2 and Hayford Road. Grocery Outlet, the anchor of the 57,000 square-foot retail development, occupies 17,500 square-feet and has Dollar Tree, Super Cuts, Pawn 1 and Spokane Teachers Credit Union among its neighbors.

The $12 million Hayford Crossing broke ground last winter and is being constructed by Meridian Construction of Spokane.

Grocery Outlet, which was founded in 1946 and is based in Emeryville, Calif., near Oakland, operates in buildings constructed by the company, but have local ownership and management. The company also provides marketing support.

The Airway Heights store, the third local location, and one of 250 nationally, will be owned by Dylan Hartung and his fiancé, Tanja Reznick. Both are former 15-year employees of Safeway.

"We're on track in every aspect," Hartung said. "We're stocking shelves now."

The difference between Grocery Outlet and other markets is that each store is independently operated, Brendan Wonnacott, company spokesman said. "We find a location and build the store," he said.

"Operators run the business with the family in the community where they live," he added. "Being a part of the community is an important concept."

Located primarily along the West Coast - plus in Pennsylvania where the company acquired a smaller chain in recent years - Grocery Outlet's Airway Heights store will be one of 30 that will have opened in 2016, Wonnacott said.

"Grocery Outlet is really unique," Wonnacott said. "We carry a full range of items, fresh produce, meat, dairy - and a wide assortment of organic products." Each store also has beer and wine along with health and beauty care departments.

The company has made its mark in the retail grocery business by offering some of the lowest prices that can be found, Wonnacott claims. "Customers can save up to 50 percent, or more, on thousands of name-brand products, compared to conventional retailers," he explained.

Buyers search for brand-name products from companies who are faced with excess inventory, or with packaging and label changes. Grocery Outlet's inventory is also comprised of items from private label groceries with brand names on shelves changing regularly.

But the bottom line for store shoppers is significant savings. Wonnacott said estimates show Grocery Outlet customers saved in excess of $1 billion in 2015 over what they might have paid elsewhere.

One area where buyers save consumers money is in offering products that stay on the shelves after the "Best if used by," date found on labels. The product is still safe to eat and the dates on labels refer only to quality, not safety.

Following World War II, company founder, Jim Read, bought government surplus food products and sold them in vacant stores in the San Francisco under the original name of Cannery Sales. Throughout 40 years of growth and expansion, the company went through a variety of names before settling on Grocery Outlet in 1995.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].