West Coast neighborhood grocers New Seasons Market and New Leaf Community Markets, independent operators within the Good Food Holdings family of brands, have announced a starting wage increase to $16.25 per hour for staff across Oregon, Washington and California, effective Oct. 6.
In addition to higher starting pay, the grocers will adjust wage scales in order to recognize the contributions of all hourly store staff. These wage investments will raise the average pay of current hourly staff to $19.98 per hour across banners.
“Supporting staff with competitive pay and benefits is a deeply rooted commitment aligned to the founding values of New Seasons Market and New Leaf Community Markets,” said Nancy Lebold, CEO serving both banners. “Grocery workers are vital to the success of our regional food economies. This investment will advance equity in our stores and continue moving the food industry to support livable wages for all workers.”
New Seasons Market and New Leaf Community Markets share a commitment to progressive policies and programs that nurture staff and the communities served by the grocers’ combined 24 stores. The banners were early adopters of a $15 per hour starting wage and invest 25 percent of every sales dollar back into compensation and benefits programs.
As the first B Corp Certified grocery stores, New Seasons Market and New Leaf Community Markets also lead the industry with comprehensive benefits packages that include robust healthcare for all kinds of families, paid parental leave, secure lifestyle scheduling, paid volunteer opportunities and career development.
Recent benefit investments include: scholarship programs for interested staff to earn their Retail Management Certificate, providing access to continued education and professional development opportunities and the expansion of parental leave eligibility to part-time staff, effective in the 2022 open enrollment period.
New Seasons Market also introduced a childcare tuition benefit through Oregon-headquartered KinderCare Education to ease the challenges of working parents in its stores and store support office.
Forrest Gonsiewski, regional VP at New Leaf Community Markets adds, “With this starting wage investment, we’re leading amongother regional retailers as we work to retain and attract the best people from within the communities we serve.”
New Seasons Market has long been a vocal leader of progressive practices that benefit local communities and the retail industry at-large. The company successfully championed campaigns to raise the Oregon state minimum wage and increase affordable housing in 2016 and 2018, respectively. New Seasons Market has a longstanding practice of secure scheduling, and the company has endorsed legislation to require fair and predictable scheduling for the retail workforce.
New Seasons Market also has advocated for statewide paid family and medical leave, and marriage equality to increase protections for all types of families.
New Seasons Market was founded in 2000 by three families and 50 friends in Portland, Oregon. It now has almost 3,500 employees across 19 stores in Oregon, Washington and Northern California.
New Leaf Community Markets is an organic and natural grocer with five stores along the Central Coast and has been serving the community for 35 years. It is the first grocer in California to achieve B Corporation certification, which means that New Leaf uses the power of business to solve social and economic problems.
Good Food Holdings is the holding company for five food retailing brands: Bristol Farms, Metropolitan Market, Lazy Acres Natural Market, New Seasons Market and New Leaf Community Markets. Each brand has its own leadership team, company culture, operating philosophy and go-to market strategy. Good Food Holdings is a subsidiary of Emart, which is part of The Shinsegae Group, a global retailer in Seoul, South Korea.
