Valley Springs Mar-Val employee Laurie Vanpell handles vegetables in the store's produce section. Mar-Val stores, which got its start in Lodi, thrives today in smaller areas that large grocery chains tend to ignore. (Greg Kane/News-Sentinel)

Mar-Val goes where no other stores have gone

VALLEY SPRINGS -- Out here, where Highway 12 coils through golden hills dotted with more trees and vineyards than houses, there are no plans for a Wal-Mart Supercenter. No Raley's, Safeway or Albertson's either.

The 7,000-plus residents of this community in the Sierra foothills aren't without a place to get their shopping done in one stop, however. At the Mar-Val food store, a 25,000-square-foot supermarket in a commercial center just off the two-lane highway, shoppers circle aisles of produce, meats, baked goods and most of the other sundries the big guys offer.

"When I first moved here, there was nothing," said local resident Rachelle Keiser while shopping at the Mar-Val recently. "You'd have to go to Stockton or Lodi (to find a supermarket)."

In an era where small and medium-sized grocers are disappearing faster than you can say "big-box," Mar-Val is a rarity. The Lodi-based company that opened its first markets in Lodi a half-century ago now thrives in communities off the path of larger cities dominated by giant grocery chains.

There are five Mar-Val stores across the region: Ripon, Prather, Georgetown, Rio Linda and Valley Springs. The chain was once a local mainstay, with three Lodi stores and two more in Galt, but growth and competition from bigger supermarkets sent Mar-Val in search of more rural locations, said Mark Kidd, the company's owner and president.

Mar-Val still keeps its corporate offices in Lodi, but its actual markets move farther away from the city as its population grows.

"We feel we can get in with the community and become a part of it (in smaller areas)," Kidd said. "We stay out of the reach of the big cities. It's just too expensive to operate."

Phyllis Faubion has been shopping at the Mar-Val in Valley Springs for more than seven years. She said shopping at the store offers the best of both worlds: Supermarket selection with the charm of a small, country store.

"The people are so friendly," Faubion said. "They even know your name after you've been here for a while."

That's the way it was when Mark's father, Mardee Kidd, opened the first Mar-Val with his brother Val at the corner of Hutchins Street and Kettleman Lane in 1952. Mar-Val is a combination of the cofounders' first names.

The Mar-Val food store at Hutchins and Lockeford streets, shown in this undated photo, was a popular place for Lodians to shop. This store was the third to open in Lodi and in the early 1970s became the last one to close. (Courtesy photo)

Two other Lodi stores opened during the next decade. One sat near the corner of School and Walnut streets in what is now Cottage Bakery.

The third, a 26,000-square-foot building at Lockeford and Hutchins streets, was built in the modern supermarket model: Long aisles down the center, with deli, meat, bakery and produce sections on the perimeter. It was also the last to survive in the area, holding on until 1971.

A combination of ill-fated promotions -- two redeemable stamp companies went out of business, forcing Mar-Val to pay the difference -- and competition from new supermarkets caused the company to move out of town, Kidd said. The Lockeford and Hutchins building is now home to Fitness Works Twin Arbors Athletic Club, though the company still keeps its corporate offices next door.

Mar-Val opens stores in areas that are too small to support the supermarket giants, but too large to be served by a corner store, Kidd said.

"You can't put a big Raley's or Safeway in these areas, yet you can't rely on an AM/PM either," Kidd said. "That won't service the people."

Phyllis Faubion shops at the Valley Springs Mar-Val in early June. Mar-Val stores, which got its start in Lodi, thrives today in smaller areas that large grocery chains tend to ignore. (Greg Kane/News-Sentinel)

Those communities are ever-changing, however. Rio Linda, a rural community just north of Sacramento, is rapidly growing due to development in nearby Roseville and Natomas. That growth attracts businesses more than willing to compete with Mar-Val for an ever-growing customer base.

"It's like a piece of pie," Kidd said. "We used to be the whole pie in Rio Linda. Then somebody moved into the next community and took a little slice. Pretty soon, the pie is sliced into a million pieces."

Depending on how large the company's slice is, Mar-Val will either stay or move on, Kidd said. Judging the state's recent growth history, the latter is more likely, he said.

"There always comes a point where you have to move on," Kidd said. "Every community we've left has come to that point."