Raley’s completes transition in central Nye County

Tonopah’s only grocery store has reopened after shutting down in order to transition to its new label.

Residents and those passing through Tonopah welcomed a new grocery chain to town on June 10: Raley’s. The once Scolari’s Food &Drug Co. at Air Force Road and U.S. Highway 95 shut down for two days in June and re-emerged under its new look.

“Customers will see an immediate change in the product offerings at an affordable price,” said Keith Knopf, president of Raley’s, prior to the store’s reopening. “We believe customers will be impressed with Raley’s enhanced prepared food offerings with quality ingredients. We hope to gain their trust and loyalty as they try our offerings.”

West Sacramento-based Raley’s was set to be remerchandised with Raley’s fresh products, including “enhanced offerings in fresh meat, produce and food service,” a news release stated before the transformation.

Prepared food offerings such as rotisserie chicken and tri-tip, along with Raley’s ready-to-go meals and in-house prepared salads were also planned after the store reopened on June 10.

A spokeswoman for Raley’s said in an email just after the store made its debut that “customers have responded favorably, and we have seen good traffic to our new stores.”

Message to town government

In an email message last week to the Tonopah town government, a Raley’s official said that as of June 10, “we have successfully converted the five Scolari’s Food &Drug locations and the Sak ‘N Save that we acquired last month in Northern Nevada to Raley’s.”

“You may have already noticed changes to the exterior of these locations, and we will continue to improve the infrastructure moving forward,” Kevin Buffalino, partnership development manager, wrote.

“As mentioned when we initially announced this transition, we encouraged all Scolari’s Food &Drug employees to apply for employment as Raley’s team members and are happy to say that we welcomed approximately 90 percent of them into the Raley’s family,” he said.

Raley’s is “committed to supporting the communities in which we are located as well,” Buffalino said.

“Through Raley’s Food for Families, our non-profit organization, all of our new locations will be working with the Northern Nevada Food Bank in an effort to end hunger by providing fresh and healthy food to those who need it the most in your community. We accept donations at each register, and 100 percent of the donations go directly to the food bank.”

The acquisition

Raley’s acquired five Scolari’s grocery stores in March, along with a Sak ‘N Save location in Reno, for an undisclosed amount.

A news release in May announced that each location was to be closed, at different dates, between the second half of May through June. The Sak ‘N Save was closed for updating, but that location will maintain its name and be under Raley’s leadership.

Many of the same faces from Scolari’s could be run into at the Tonopah grocery store and other locations now under Raley’s ownership. According to a news release, roughly 90 percent of the Scolari’s team members that applied to work for Raley’s were hired.

Four of the stores are being managed by the same leadership, according to the news release.

Raley’s now holds the five locations in Nevada. In addition, there were 11 Raley’s stores in the state prior to the sale to the California-based company. Raley’s also owns a Food Source store and two Aisle One fuel station in Nevada.

Overall, Raley’s owns 129 stores under five labels. Those labels include Raley’s, Bel Air Markets, Nob Hill Foods, Food Source and Market 5-ONE-5.

Scolari’s, a family-owned business, will continue to operate two stores in Nevada: one in Sun Valley and another in Sparks. The Scolari family has ties to the grocery business that stretch back to the late 1940s.

Contact reporter Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes