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Business boomed for many years for Mr. Singh and his wife until competition moved in down the other end of the dusty road. Since then, it has been survival of the fittest for him but he manages to keep busy enough for he and his wife Satbir to live the American dream. I’ve heard the American dream story many times, but it really rang through as I left Jyoti happily waiting on his customers and holding an animated conversation about the special at the taco truck.
dilemma has reared its head in generational family-owned grocery stores – who will take over the business when the elder generation decides it is time to retire? In Tom’s case, his success has allowed his children to pursue professional interests. Tom’s son is finishing medical school and his daughter is a successful accountant for a large firm. I learned that success in the Gong’s case was a different kind of stress – who would continue the blood, sweat and tears it took to build this empire?
“The grocery business for many of these families was not about making as much money as humanly possible, but rather about starting a business known for first chances and opportunities.”
Skip Nugent, Best Buy Markets IGA
The barren I-5 freeway has left me hypnotized in my thoughts. Why did people settle in the Central Valley? What were the family or life circumstances that brought them to Lodi, to Stockton and to my next stop in Visalia. Like many California communities, Visalia's early growth came from the miners seeking gold in the mid1800s. And like many other Central California communities, its main economic driver is agriculture. For Tom Gong and his family, it was simply opportunity. One store turned into many and now the family has amassed a grocery empire – Gongco Foods/Food 4 Less – in the Central Valley. Tom, the patriarch and founder of the company, dutifully does his rounds at the store each morning. The day I visited, his sister, Mary, was at one of the stores diligently stocking the candy aisle as she has done for decades. However, a growing
My own family went through a similar situation in the early 1990s. My grandfather started our family grocery in 1941 near Sacramento. My dad and my uncles expanded the business to a nice sized family business into the 90s. But competition was tough. The big box stores were filling their parking lots, literally a half of a mile from our best store. Decades-long customer loyalty gave way to the sharp pricing the big box stores were able to offer and soon our customer base dwindled with it. Not having the stomach to fight, my dad sold it all in the early 90s. When is it time to walk away and when is it time to dig deep, fight and survive? This has been the age-old question in family grocery stores since the beginning of time. On my way back north on my favorite interstate, I stopped in the tiny Swiss town of Kingsburg. Kingsburg? As many times as I’ve driven north and south on I-5 on the way to more popular destinations like Monterey or Sacramento, I have never even noticed Kingsburg.
Rob and Billy Gong, Kingsburg Market