Grand opening at Grocery Outlet

SMELTERVILLE — The energy was electric as members of the community, Silver Valley Chamber, fellow business owners, and curious customers gathered to shop at the grand opening of the Grocery Outlet: Bargain Market in Smelterville on Thursday morning.

The doors opened at 8 a.m., with the first customers receiving a gift card and a free, limited-edition reusable bag.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at noon to celebrate the store’s opening with owner Melinda Parks.

“One thing I want to point out is that Grocery Outlet is employing 29 local people, and in a community our size. That’s huge,” said President of the Silver Valley Chamber, Diannah Fields-Brown, to the gathered crowd. “So Melinda, thank you for choosing to come home to the Silver Valley community. We wish you every success.”

After a popular hiring event, the store is currently fully staffed.

“I’m always taking resumes and applications, as business needs change,” Parks said.

Hiring locals is a big priority as Parks was born and raised in the Silver Valley, graduating from Kellogg High School in 2002 and raising her children through the Wallace and Mullan school districts while living in Silverton.

Because of this, Parks understands the Silver Valley’s needs, including food insecurity at the local schools — as a result, the store donated $1,000 to the Silver Valley Snak Pak Program at the grand opening.

“We are a nonprofit organization that provides food for kids with food insecurity over the weekends. This year we’re looking at filling 600 bags a weekend,” said Christy Jacobs. “Right now, we service Pinehurst Elementary School, and just this last year, we opened up a food pantry in our middle school. These thousand dollars will help us feed roughly 200 kids per weekend. We are so appreciative of Melinda.”

This donation isn’t the only way Parks and her crew with Grocery Outlet have helped local schools. They were recently able to donate 490 pumpkins to Pinehurst Elementary School students with the help of Nickerson Towing.

Parks has vast managerial experience, as she previously managed a Grocery Outlet in Pullman, Wash., and has also managed Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Shopko, Pilot Flying J and Dollar Tree.

“I am so thrilled to be part of the Silver Valley community and provide big savings on quality groceries. This partnership with Grocery Outlet gives me the ability to grow my business, create new jobs and more importantly give back to the local community,” Parks said. “The store offers the same trusted brands as traditional grocery stores, but at lower prices. The stores are independently operated by local families who are committed to supporting their communities.”

A couple of special features that Grocery Outlet offers are the Natural Organic Speciality Healthy (NOSH), “This is our specialty category and can be found in all departments. We will also have a wide assortment of health and beauty aids, general merchandise and seasonal items,” Parks said.

Another special section? The wine!

Parks explained, “We currently have over 100 different selections of wine available.”

The store will also feature locally made beer from breweries like Radio Brewing Company and Wallace Brewing.

Grocery Outlet is a third-generation family-led company founded in 1946, offering customers significant savings on brand-name products.

The company has more than 400 locations throughout California, Idaho, Maryland, New Jersey, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington.

Located at 20 Nearing Way in Smelterville, and is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

For more information about Grocery Outlet, please visit groceryoutlet.com.

Follow Smelterville Grocery Outlet on Facebook: @Smeltervillegroceryoutlet