Michael Johnstone, VP of Goodwin & Sons Inc., is a fourth-generation grocer and great-grandson of the company’s founder. He responded to questions from The Shelby Report’s Lorrie Griffith about the grocer’s four stores, three of which are located in Southern California.
To start off, tell me about you – your title and history with the company, as well as other roles you’ve held.
My great-grandfather and grandfather – George C. and George D. Goodwin, respectively, started the business in 1946 in Crestline, California. I grew up in the business but left for college and a different career and ended up coming back to the business in 2011 with my wife and two sons.
We have been managing the business alongside my uncle, David Goodwin, president of Goodwin & Sons Inc., since then. David Goodwin Jr. assists in our Crestline store and oversees the operations at Riverside and Redlands stores. Matthew Goodwin manages our Chilcoot location, and Kaleb Goodwin is our controller.
We have around 15 family members involved in the operations in some capacity. We are blessed and privileged to serve each community our stores are in.
Each of your four stores has a different name, which is a bit unique. Tell me about them.
Our stores are positioned to serve the communities they are in.
Our Crestline store (Goodwin & Sons Market) is our founding store and is a full-line grocery operation at 44,000 square feet. It is right across from beautiful Lake Gregory and has a rich history with deep roots. The store was just reopened in May 2024 after the roof collapsed in March 2023 under the heavy snow (see previous article at theshelbyreport.com).
Our Riverside store (Goodwin’s Organic Foods) was built by my uncle Martin Goodwin’s family in 2007 and was California’s first Certified Organic grocery operation.
It is around 6,000 square feet and has a great prepared foods section, as well as a coffee/juice bar, produce and beer/wine. Martin’s son, David Jr., manages this store with his brother, Kaleb.
In 2017, our family purchased a small 5,000-square-foot general store in Chilcoot, California, north of Lake Tahoe. The store was renovated and is a beautiful roadside market with fuel, sporting goods, a great butcher shop, coffee/juice bar, prepared foods, a gift shop and full grocery.
The store also has a small feed store attached, which caters to the rural ranching community around it. Martin’s son, Matthew, manages Goodwin’s General Store with his wife, Nayla. Martin and his wife, Mary, are also heavily involved in the operation.
Our Redlands store – Goodwin’s Market Redlands – was opened in 2021 in the base of the Crossings Apartments at the corner of Lugonia and Nevada Street. This is a smaller format, convenience-based store with prepared foods, a pizza oven, coffee/juice bar, beer/wine and a lot of grab-n-go.
This is the first of its concept for us, as it is in more of an urban setting, where residents live on top of the store and do their daily shopping. This store is managed by Saul Gil and David Goodwin Jr.
Now that Crestline has been reopened for a while, how are things going there? Feedback from shoppers on the new design or other changes that were made?
The Crestline store has been reopened for 10 months now, and the store has been very well received. The new design incorporated modern design features while preserving the true community store that it is.
Shoppers and tourists love the old-fashioned soda fountain, the beautiful meat counter, the freshly prepared foods and the unique finds of the Goodwin’s General Gift Shop.
In the renovation, there was an upper seating area with a deck that overlooks Lake Gregory, which has been a huge hit with customers. Many folks grab prepared foods or a coffee/organic juice and enjoy it in the seating area.
How’s business? Any plans for new stores or remodels?
At this time, we do not have any plans for expansion of the grocery operations or remodels. We just finished the Crestline rebuild, so we are focusing on growth within each operation before looking toward expansion.
What are some of your top concerns today?
The biggest challenges of our operation are inflation and competition. We have put a lot more resources into pricing in the past couple years as inflation has been such a problem.
Eggs are one of the biggest concerns lately. But as an independent, we are able to adapt and seek out smaller suppliers that have better pricing and supply, so we offer a dozen eggs for $4.99, which is beating a lot of the chain stores that we compete against.
These are the opportunities we have to shine, so we move quickly to take care of our customers. Whether it’s a new trend or a supply shortage, we strive to be first to address it. That has helped us to build a deep customer loyalty.
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How do you deliver on customer service?
We understand we are in the people business, not the food business. Customer experience is No. 1 for us. We stress the importance of “Eagerness to Serve,” and we spend a long time vetting our potential staff to ensure they fit our culture.
Our staff is known for going above and beyond to take care of special requests or even assist a customer in solving a problem. We also try to set ourselves apart by enhancing the human capital in all of our stores. You won’t find self-checkouts or overnight stocking going … we have the most staff on the show floor possible, so we maximize interactions.
Perhaps related, what do you see as your competitive advantage in your stores?
Our competitive advantage is the customer’s experience through customer service, eye appeal through design and unique offerings. This is what sets us apart from the chain stores and makes each customer leave feeling part of our family.
How do you support the communities where you operate?
Community support is huge for us. For generations, Goodwin & Sons have supported the Crestline community through service organizations, supporting special events and supporting the kids sports/school functions. This community has supported us for 79 years, and we are grateful to them.
This relationship with the community is symbiotic. We know that our support for them enriches the community, which makes Crestline a better place to live and visit.
This is the same feeling we have for the communities around the stores in Chilcoot, Redlands and Riverside. We want to be good stewards of the communities around our stores and make sure we are enriching the area.
Great store run by a great family. I’ve shopped there for 30 years and appreciate what they have to offer.