John Stokes and his brother, Steve, are fourth-generation grocers who have spent their lives immersed in the family business, Stokes Markets. Their work ethic and dedication to excellence are a direct result of their upbringing in the industry and the influence of those who worked alongside them.
Stokes credits their customers with pushing them to create the best possible stores – places they can proudly call their neighborhood market. Today, the family operates eight stores across Montana, Idaho and Utah, including several grocery/hardware store combinations.
The Stokes family’s grocery roots trace back to the 1930s, when their great-grandfather operated an O.P. Skaggs in Preston, Idaho. Fifty years later, they opened their own store in the same town, a location still run today by an uncle.
“Everyone we have worked with has taught us something valuable about how to run a store the right way,” Stokes said. “While I may have had the idea to expand, our employees are the ones who took that idea and made it their own. We rely heavily on our employees to function well; some of them are employee-owners.”
Early days, lasting passion
The family’s first store was in Burley, Idaho. Stokes recalled his grandfather and father, both butchers, being passionate about their craft.
“This store was small, but it did crazy amounts of volume because people were excited about buying their meat here,” he said. “My dad and grandfather did a great job growing the business. They had a following with their meat, and customers would pass by Safeway and Albertson’s to shop at our store.”
Stokes “caught the bug” for the business firsthand. Even a childhood accident at age 11 – nearly slicing off his pinky finger in a meat slicer – didn’t deter him.
“I’ve been working in grocery since I was small, doing all sorts of things most kids my age wouldn’t be doing,” he said.
Stokes Markets recently expanded its presence in Montana with the addition of three Gary & Leo’s stores in Conrad, Florence and Havre. The company is in the process of rebranding them under the Stokes banner and transitioning them to their wholesaler, Associated Food Stores.
Stokes emphasized the company’s strong reliance on AFS, which helps it remain competitive through aggressive pricing, marketing, promotions and the expertise of corporate staff.
“They’ve got specialists in just about every department who can come into our stores and help us understand what we need to do within our walls to keep up with the latest trends,” Stokes explained.
Secret to success – details, dedication
Stokes attributes their stores’ success to a meticulous attention to detail. “In the grocery business, it’s death by 1,000 paper cuts if you don’t get things right,” he said. “Details, details, details; plans, plans, plans.
“We focus on developing programs that work and then implementing them across all our stores, so everyone knows what the program is, what it’s supposed to look like, what the price of things are, how the chicken is supposed to taste and what the sandwich program looks like.”
Ultimately, he added, they must stay focused on what customers want.
“If you do something and it’s not working, stop doing it and try to figure out another program,” he said. “The grocery business is hard and very demanding. It has chewed up and spit out a lot of people in the three states we operate in.
“When Walmart came to town, what did we do? We lowered our heads and went to work. At the end of the day, we were successful because we are connected to our customers better than anyone and understand the pulse of the community.”
Staying true to their guiding principles is another cornerstone of Stokes Markets’ formula.
“Whether in life or in business, we believe in always aiming up, telling the truth and always seeking a way to make the world a better place,” Stokes said. “If one of our customers is lonely or maybe having a hard day, we want them to feel brighter when they walk through our doors.
“The same holds true for our employees. We want them to feel that ours is a place they can come to get away from the craziness of the world, a place where they can find consistency and that they have a family here who takes care of each other.
“When people aim up and make a conscious effort every day to do things in a better way, the world starts to become a better place, and people are attracted to that.”
Stokes Markets sometimes relies on word-of-mouth to staff stores, often asking locals where they buy their meat or produce. The company has found some of the best employees that way, some of whom return after retiring because they miss working there.
Stokes and his brother learned how to treat employees by observing their grandparents and parents. Stokes recalled a time when an employee needed a multi-organ transplant. The family organized a community fun day, donating all profits to help cover medical bills.
He also speaks highly of the former owners of Gary & Leo’s, the Malisani family, who share the same dedication to their employees’ well-being.
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Standing out from competition
Stokes knows customers have many shopping options and structures the business plan accordingly.
“Taking care of our customers’ needs and filling a niche is where we position ourselves,” he said. “In our stores, you’ll find a lot of scratch baking with artisan bread and doughnuts made by hand. Neither is a quick, easy or cheap process, but people love quality products that stand out.”
This same mindset applies throughout the store, including meat and produce.
“Why do we have a certified Black Angus program? It eats so much better and offers a more consistent experience,” he said. “We want to be known as the grocer who offers a step above what you can buy anywhere else. It takes more time, energy and effort, but it’s something we are willing to do that our competitors are not.
“At the end of the day, we want to set the expectation that if people buy their meat, produce or bakery goods at Stokes, it’s better than what they can find elsewhere.”
Relying on local vendors also has helped Stokes Markets differentiate itself.
“Who better than us to partner with a local vendor or farmer?” Stokes asked. “We love to feature local items that customers can only find in our stores. In Montana, that can mean huckleberry products and flathead cherries. It can also mean cheese balls made from scratch during the holidays.
“Our customers love our unique products and look forward to seeing them each season. We actively search out specialty products from smaller vendors – it creates excitement in the stores, sets us apart and gives customers a reason to shop with us.”
Technology and future
Calling technology “an inflation fighter,” Stokes said the company embraces anything that helps them reduce costs.
“Whether we’re talking about digital price tags or connected scales that manage pricing in all stores from a central location or our digital rewards programs, these technologies save time and make us more productive, more consistent and better overall retailers,” he said. “It’s a big savings for us and a win for our customers.”
While integrating the three Gary & Leo’s stores at once has been challenging, Stokes hinted the company may not be done growing.
“We always have our eyes open for any and all possibilities and will expand as the right opportunities present themselves,” he said.