Mission: Touching Lives for the Better
Grocery Outlet continued supporting the communities we serve with our Independence From Hunger® Food Drive campaign this past July. Our more than 270 Grocery Outlet stores partnered with a local food agency, directing support to the communities we serve. Working together with our great customers the stores raised over $1.0 million dollars. Thanks to all who supported this great cause.
Grocery Outlet has launched its 5th Annual Independence From Hunger® Food Drive today to donate food throughout July, traditionally a time when food agencies experience the greatest need to serve children who are off from school during the summer. According to the Food Research and Action Center, 6 out of 7 low-income kids who eat a free or reduced-price school lunch during the academic year do not get a free meal during the summer. (Source: Food Research and Action Center, Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report 2012).
In 1946, Jim Read started selling military surplus for deep discounts and Grocery Outlet has been wowing bargain-minded shoppers ever since. Delivering thrilling deals has become our mission; in fact, it’s led us to become the nation’s largest extreme value grocery retailer. We offer brand-name, quality products at up to 60% off conventional retail prices.
Our buyers shop the world, traveling thousands of miles each year to find the best deals available. They have developed long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with thousands of producers and manufacturers over the years. Grocery Outlet buyers are experts at buying product opportunistically; that is, product outside the normal retail channel, i.e. packaging changes, product overruns, and surplus inventories, to bring the best bargains back to our stores.
Our customers are bargain hunters, coupon clippers, working parents, thriving families, and those who love high-quality products at very low prices. Whatever brings you here, we’re happy to have you. We love to save you money.
The third generation of the Read family is now running the business, with 270 independently operated stores in California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Grocery Outlet stores are located in cities large and small, and serve all kinds of neighborhoods. Most stores are independently operated by locally-based families.
We are truly a family business.
We offer our employees:
Grocery Outlet is committed to being an Equal Opportunity employer, and we encourage applications from individuals from diverse backgrounds.
Grocery Outlet’s core mission is “Touching lives for the better.” This mission is a big part of our culture, from our corporate headquarters, to store owner operators, and store employees.One of the ways we give back to our communities is through Independence from Hunger, a yearly food drive we sponsor in July. Independence from Hunger brings together Grocery Outlet stores and their customers to help feed people in their local communities who are facing hunger and food insecurity.
In 2011, Grocery Outlet stores and their customers collectively donated more than$223,000 in cash, gift card and food donations to help support local food assistance agencies as part of the Independence from Hunger food drive. In 2012, we increased our donations to over $292,000—meaning, over half a million dollars donated in just two years! In 2013, we hit the $300,000 mark, and in 2014, we are pleased to say that our stores and customers raised over $405,000 in food and cash to support their neighbors in need. For 2015, our goal is $425,000.
We are so happy to be part of such a generous community of Operators and customers.
Are you in a retail company with no opportunity to grow or to really use the experience and retail management skills you have? Be your own boss! Enjoy the freedom of using your merchandising, creativity, customer service, inventory control and other skills to build a successful business. To learn more, visit: http://ownagroceryoutlet.com/
Consider this:
About Us
Grocery Outlet is the largest retail grocery remarketer in the U.S. We purchase and consign product to Grocery Outlet businesses that are owned and operated by families.
We are different from other organizations for two important reasons: first, the product is consigned, not sold to the Store Operators, and second, we are a family-oriented company which entrusts family management teams to run businesses to sell our products.
We carefully choose every Grocery Outlet Operator. Our operators undergo extensive training on the job and in the classroom at our Grocery Outlet University through a special certification process.
Interested in working in a Grocery Outlet store? Each one of our Grocery Outlet stores is independently owned and operated, and as such, is an independent employer. You must apply directly with each store for employment. Please pick the store you’d like to apply to, and then enter your information. We will forward your information to the store owner.
Helpful (3)
I have been working at Grocery Outlet full-time (Less than a year)
Pros
Is it cheesy if I say everything?
Truly though, from my very first interaction - with who I can only describe as the most diligent, personable, and real recruiter I've ever met - through my very enjoyable and expedited interview process with my amazing team, Grocery Outlet continues to amaze!
Everyone you encounter is so welcoming and genuinely happy to meet you. It's clear from day one that overall, the company has very low ego; we're all interested in collective success and operate with the "one team, one dream" mindset. In my first few weeks, I kept thinking that the other shoe HAS to drop, but it hasn't, and I still find myself experiencing surprise and delight regularly.
The office is very surprising and not what I expected when I came onsite for my interviews. Open-concept, modern looking with a gym, private showers, multiple places for meetings (private and open) and tons and tons of buyer samples (yum!) I think there are only one or two offices in the whole building, and they are designated for confidential functions only. It's like, "Executives: They're Just Like Us!" (CEO and Vice Chairman sit in the open-concept, too). It's great!
There is a healthy mix of tenure that is a constant reminder that the company is invested in hiring and retaining the right people and propelling them to grow successful careers here. There are so many examples of working from the ground up, and having experience in several different areas of the business, creating new roles for teams to fill needs and expand reach - very encouraging! This doesn't mean that we hire based on talent alone - everyone shares the same level of scrutiny around finding the right cultural fit, and it shows!
I am also loving how humble the culture is and how the structure is relatively flat. The level of bureaucracy and political red tape I experienced at my previous companies (large corporate retailers) was often a source of extreme stress and very low job satisfaction. From leaders stifling creativity and acting as blockers, to creating a CYA culture of fear of taking accountability. At GO, this isn't the case - I am regularly reminded of this based on the amount of runway I was given immediately, how mistakes are not treated like the end of the world, how quickly decisions are made, how much trust leaders have in their people, and how collaborative everyone is, even at the executive level.
All in all, I am so glad that I didn't allow Grocery Outlet to become a missed connection in my job search. I thought I knew what I wanted and where I wanted to be, but I was so, so wrong. I am now at a fabulous company full of amazing and hard-working people, and in a new role that is mine to shape and build out and grow. It's the best decision I've made in a long, long time! This is truly a hidden gem of a company and a real diamond in the rough!
Cons
The company has operated like a small company for a long time and sometimes documentation and structure around processes isn't the best and you have to learn from one or more people to get the full picture. Also, when you have a job that has touch-points with multiple departments and functions, it can be a little overwhelming to figure out who does what, etc. Fortunately, everyone is super open and willing to help, so you aren't ever stuck!
Advice to Management
Make sure that cultural fit is always at the top of the list when bringing in new employees to preserve that Grocery Outlet secret sauce. We are growing very quickly and it would be all too easy to fall into a pattern of "get butts in seats" so that work can be done, but that's a practice that becomes a culture-killer.
Application
I applied online. The process took 5 days. I interviewed at Grocery Outlet in November 2018.
Interview
There are 2 phone interviews - the first one is from the recruiter and second one is from the buyer. Questions of both interviews are related to the working experience and how much you know about the job duties
Interview Questions
Let us know if we're missing any workplace or industry recognition – Add Awards
