Nugget Market
 |
|
| Private | |
| Industry | Retail (Grocery) |
| Founded | 1926 |
| Headquarters | Woodland, California |
|
Number of locations
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9 |
|
Key people
|
Gene Stille, Chairman Eric Stille, CEO/President Chris Carpenter, COO/Vice-President |
| Products | Grocery |
| Revenue | 221 million USD (2004) |
|
Number of employees
|
1,300 |
| Website | nuggetmarket.com |
Nugget Markets is a family-owned upscale supermarket chain operating within the greater Sacramento metropolitan area. It is headquartered in Woodland, California. As of October 2009, the company operates nine of its flagship Nugget-brand stores, as well as three Food 4 Less franchises.
In 1926, Nugget Market opened its first store in Woodland, California by the father-and-son team of William and Mack Stille. Mack Stille ran most of the day-to-day operations and introduced many unconventional policies to the store, such as incorporating meat departments, installing refrigerated produce cases and employing checkout stands equipped with power belts. Their decision to provide employees with wage and benefit packages that were unusually high for the industry gained them notoriety for the time.
In the late 1970s, under the leadership of Mack's son, Gene, and grandson, Eric, the company began its expansion outside the local Woodland community by opening a Nugget store in neighboring Davis. In 1984, Nugget acquired a pair of Sacramento Alpha Beta grocery stores and converted them into Nuggets, one in the Greenhaven-Pocket neighborhood, the other in Foothill Farms on hillsdale blvd. All Alpha Beta associates were invited to join the company, and many continue to work with Nugget today. In the early 90s, Nugget opened its first Food 4 Less franchise in Vallejo, California.
In the late 1990s, Nugget developed their new Fresh to Market concept, pairing European-style open-air marketing with higher-end products and specialty departments, such as their Cheese Concierge, Pastry Chefs in a full-range Bakery, Full-Service Kitchen, Healthy Living Department, dedicated Seafood butcher and a Juice & Espresso Bar.
In 2001, the company built its first Fresh to Market store in Vacaville's Browns Valley Marketplace and then at Oak Tree Plaza in East Davis.
In 2008, Nugget sold its in-store pharmacies to Longs Drugs.
Unique to Nugget Markets is their architectural feature at the entrance of new stores, which include a tower and/or a robed woman with a basket of food above her head. The robed woman, in particular, became the corporate logo and mascot of the company.
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Wikipedia