In a little more than two years, Pasco’s Grocery Outlet validated the decision to open on Road 68.

Of the 150 or so Grocery Outlets dotting the Northwest, Pasco recorded the biggest growth in sales in 2020, said Charles Grimm, who operates the store with his wife, Janice.

The Grimms opened the grocery at 5710 Road 68 in mid-2018 after operating JC’s Mesa Grocery & Deli in north Franklin County for more than a decade.

Grimm said Pasco’s growth, as well as a business model that resonates with a select group of grocery shoppers – the bargain hunters, the treasurer hunters and the dollar stretchers ­– drove sales growth. He credits staff as well for maintaining a fun atmosphere, even during the pandemic.

“It’s our team buying into the vision of a family, fun atmosphere,” he said.

Grocery Outlets stock shelves with a mix of heavily discounted items sourced “opportunistically” from manufacturers and distributors, as well as fresh meat, produce and dairy.

Grocery store veterans

And its stores are owned and operated by independent owners. The Grimms were longtime grocery veterans before Emeryville, California-based Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. selected them to operate the Pasco store in 2018, shortly before it opened.

He had started as a high school kid with an after-work job that paid $3 an hour in Tumwater. Fifteen years later and married, he had worked his way up to management. The couple wanted to operate their own store and looked for opportunities.

They were priced out of western Washington, but the small Mesa store beckoned them to Franklin County.

In 2006, they moved and began running JC’s, making Mesa their home as they started a family that now includes four children under 13.

Grimm loved being the small city’s grocer. His store displayed an outsized American flag on a pole donated by his uncle. He served as grand marshal for a fall festival parade in nearby Connell.

“We were welcomed like family,” he said.

The Grimms sold the Mesa grocery in 2017. The store was not being marketed but they received an inquiry from a buyer who readily agreed to pay the price Grimm asked.

Joining Grocery Outlet

Grocery Outlet caught his attention when he was running an errand near one of its stores. Intrigued, he learned more and applied for the owner-operator training program. After more than two decades in the business, he found the seven-month program enlightening.

“I learned every day in my training,” he said.

The Grimms had plenty of competition when Grocery Outlet announced plans to anchor a new strip mall on Road 68 in western Pasco, in the heart of the fast-growing area. The Grimms, with their past community involvement, were selected.

In its 2020 year-end report, Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ: GO) reported its 2020 net sales increased 22.5% to $3.13 billion for the year. It had 380 stores at the end of the year, including 35 newly open ones, for a rough average of $8.2 million in sales per store.

The chain operates chiefly on the West Coast. The company does not disclose individual store data, but a spokeswoman confirmed the Pasco store is a top performer in the region.

“We are incredibly pleased with its success,” said Layla Kasha. “Charles has done a great job of integrating into the community and providing fresh, name-brand products at wow prices for its customers.”

On the shelves

The Pasco Grocery Outlet has 13,00 square feet of selling space as well as storage. It employs about 25.

The Grimms had their young children helping but put that on hold when the pandemic struck. The store is operating under Washington’s Roadmap to Recovery rules, which limited capacity. Grimm said this only comes into play during peak after-work shopping hours.

The company casts itself as an extreme value retailer that keeps costs down by purchasing name brand items at opportunistic prices when distributors and manufacturers are looking to clear out inventory.

Grimm gives cereal as an example. A box may feature a Disney princess for an expiring promotional campaign. Grocery Outlet buyers get the cereal at a 60%-70% discount over traditional retail channels.

Local operators order from the company’s warehouses in real time. Pasco is served by a warehouse in Gresham, Oregon, as well as a cold storage facility in Tacoma. As operator, Grimm selects about 80% of the items on the store’s shelves, with the balance pushed out by the parent.

It supplements basic groceries with fresh meat, produce and dairy to provide a well-rounded shopping experience. The Pasco store sells eggs from Oakdell Farms, a Franklin County egg producer.

Avocados were the top-selling item in Pasco in 2020. Natural, organic and health foods are popular sellers too, he said.

Grocery Outlet raised more than $400 million when it began trading on the NASDAQ in June 2019. It is using the money to develop stores and infrastructure, with an emphasis on Washington and Oregon.

The company also operates in California, Pennsylvania, Idaho and Nevada.