Biz ‘Bite:’ Grocery Outlet opens in Idaho Falls

Grocery Outlet, a well-known food price discounter, opened its 11th store in Idaho Falls on July 14. The store is located at 2455 E. 25th St., just east of the Grand Teton Mall in the 16,000-square-foot building formerly occupied by Big Deal Outlet. The next nearest Grocery Outlet location by distance is in Hailey and the next nearest by travel time is in Twin Falls.

Grocery Outlet stores run on a franchise model with Grocery Outlet Holding Company as the franchisor. The company was founded by Jim Read in San Francisco in 1946 and is still managed by the third generation of the same family. It was originally branded as Cannery Sales between 1946 and 1970, and as Cannery Foods from 1970 to 1987, when it adopted the trademarked name of Grocery Outlet Bargain Market.

The company adopted a franchise model in 1973. The firm has expanded approximately 10% annually in recent years. The current business model is focused on growing the chain by around 35 new stores every year. The Idaho Falls store is owned and managed by independent owner-operator Douglas Everett.

Other Idaho Grocery Outlet locations are Boise (two stores), Bonners Ferry, Caldwell, Coeur d’Alene, Lewiston, Mountain Home, Nampa, Twin Falls and just over the border in Ontario, Oregon.

Grocery Outlet became a publicly traded business, joining the Nasdaq exchange in June 2019. It trades under the stock ticker of “GO” with a market cap of $3.28 billion, according to Nasdaq. It is part of the S&P MidCap 400 index.