Local Grocer Gene's Fine Foods is Sold to Avoid Closing; Employees Could Lose Pay

, a family-owned grocery known for its sublime produce and meat sections, could have closed forever.

Employees, some of whom have been there 15 years or more and make honorable salaries by grocery standards, would have been out of jobs completely, and customers who know the workers by name would have had to find a new local grocery haunt.

But the Lodi-based Mar Val Food Stores chain stepped in and bought the 22-year-old store, a Pleasanton icon almost as well known as the downtown arch.

The changeover kicks in Monday.

Though the news is good for the community — it gets to keep its beloved Gene's — employees, who learned of the sale from a piece of paper stuck on a break room wall, have mixed feelings.

They had to re-interview for their jobs this week, and many will see pay cuts. Or won't come back at all. Gene's employees make good salaries — $21 an hour or more, in some cases.

But Mar Val is a union shop, and salaries must be adjusted to fit into a pre-determined scale, which owners say is competitive.

"I could see this being good news for the store in the long-run," said one employee, referring to a planned store remodel.

The building hasn't been updated in two decades, and many say it needs a facelift.

"But in the short-term, it could be devastating," he said, referring to people who have worked there for many years and have families to support.

He said that baggers, who tend to be younger and make less money than their cashier counterparts, were being trained this week to work the registers. The speculation is that the checkers, many of whom are longtime employees making around $18 an hour, could be laid off or will quit because of drastic pay cuts.

"These guys can't go back to making $10 an hour — they have families to take care of," the employee said.

"So you end up with a situation where all of a sudden, you have a really inexperienced staff.

"We all saw ads on Craigslist advertising for new bagging positions and people are applying like crazy," he added. "There are just not enough jobs to go around."

This particular employee, who didn't want to be named in this story because he fears losing his job, said he could live on his savings for awhile if he were let go or lost pay. But even if he gets to stay, he will look for another job.

"These are all good people; it's a family to us," he said.

Another employee, who has worked at Gene's for 15 years, said workers have been anxious since learning of the takeover two weeks ago. And they have been open with the customers about what's happening; they haven't been told not to say anything.

"We're all basically competing with each other for our jobs, but so far, everyone's been civil," the employee said. "We're a pretty tight-knit group."

He makes $21 an hour as a full-time employee, and gets a nice vacation package every year.

"It's expensive living in Pleasanton, but I'm basically looking to leave now — wherever the wind takes me."

He did say that the store has been struggling since the new .

And that's not the only new store in town; there are plans for a (the natural foods grocer submitted plans to the city in March), and everyone knows about the controversial plans for a new spot, which the City Council will discuss this on May 7. That's all in addition to the and the Fresh & Easy, both of which opened in the last couple of years.

The competition isn't just rolling into Pleasanton; it's barreling in. And Gene's was losing ground, many say.

"Starting at the first of the year, it was a ghost town inside Gene's," an employee said.

"Business always goes down at the first of the year, but this year, it was different."

Despite this, workers stayed because they loved the way they were treated; in addition to the pay and vacations, Gene's muckity mucks would deliver paychecks every Wednesday and shake hands with workers. The Giomi family opened Gene's in Pleasanton in 1990, after the Alpha Beta originally in the building went broke. The family has been in the grocery business since 1928, with another store in Saratoga.

"Gene's is friendly," said one employee. "And it feels like it's getting torn apart."

(After his interview with Patch, however, this employee got in touch to say that he not only gets to keep his job, but got a little raise because of where he fits into the union scaling.)

Mark Kidd, president of Mar Val Food Stores, is quick to point out that his operation is also independent, and has been around since 1952 when his father started it. There are six other Mar Val stores, mostly in the San Joaquin Valley.

He said talks to buy Gene's started months ago.

"They were thinking about closing, so we started a conversation," he said.

"We said, 'Wait, don't close.' We wanted to make sure we could fit in the community and even make some improvements."

In a month, Gene's will undergo a remodel — $100,000 will go into the produce section alone. Kidd says the store is known for its stellar meat and produce departments, so the idea is to keep the products that customers have come to expect, but update the look of those areas.

Also, the items in the center aisles are too expensive, so those prices will go down, Kidd said.

They're keeping the wine, bakery and deli — all the staples along the perimeter — and they're adding a floral department.

"We've been around a long time and are heavily involved in our communities, so we're looking forward to that in Pleasanton," he said.

About the employees, he acknowledged that there have been hard decisions to make.

"There will probably be some changes and it's a tough situation," he said. "There will be people who won't like it."

He said when he started looking at the books, he was surprised at how well-paid the staff is.

"We thought, 'Wow, these people are really highly paid.' We basically have to plug everyone in to the category that the union calls for. Some of them will take a decrease and we hate to tell them that.

"We're doing the best we can."

As for the grocery store glut in Pleasanton, Kidd isn't worried.

"Gene's has a good reputation for meat, fish — all those things along the perimeter and we're looking to upscale that."

Walmart has those things, but they're not good quality, he said. New Leaf is a great operation, he said, but caters to a certain kind of customer who will want organic and natural foods that are pretty pricey.

"We're not scared of Safeway because their prices are a little high and you're paying a lot of money for fluff; there are certain people who like fluff and will always be there.

"But we think the trend is smaller stores; the Safeways and the Walmarts and the Costcos — they're just too big. We like the attitude that comes form a small company, the customer care and the service.

"We still have that attitude — that this is family."

Are you a Gene's customer? What do you think about the changeover? Tell us in the comments.

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