Real Food. Real People: Scott Gross and Sara Cummings Tell the Oliver's Story
Our speakers for April 28, 2022, were Scott Gross and Sara Cummings of Oliver’s Market. Scott is Oliver’s General Manager and Sara is Oliver’s Corporate Public Community and Relations Coordinator. Both were introduced by Steve Amend, who noted that Oliver’s won the District 5130 award last year for Ethical Business! Scott is a graduate of Sonoma State University, started with Oliver’s in Cotati as a student, and has worked continuously for Oliver’s since that time. Sara joined Oliver’s in 2015 working part time in the Graphics and Marketing team. Sara has worked in marketing, public relations, account management, communications, and representing wine and lifestyle brands throughout her career.
Oliver’s was founded by Steve Maass, who owned produce stands in the Bay Area before starting Oliver’s. Steve started Oliver’s in 1988, when his wife developed cancer and he needed to find a way to obtain affordable health insurance for her. The original Oliver’s store was in Cotati. The Montecito store was added in 2000, the Stony Point store in 2007 and the Windsor store in 2016. Oliver’s has nearly 1,000 employees. Its mission is to be the best grocery store it can be by providing excellent food, customer service, and choice. Oliver’s pioneered the “cross-over” style of grocery stores, providing both natural and organic produce on the same aisle. Many other grocery stores have followed Oliver’s lead on this format, but it was very original at the time they started with it. Oliver’s focuses on local Sonoma County food and beverage products. It also often hires from within its ranks; many of the current management team are long-time employees dating back to the pre-expansion days. It strives for quality throughout all the stores and especially in the perimeter areas, such as baking, deli, produce, and meats. Its staff is fully trained and are experts in their areas. Oliver’s is not the low-price leader. Instead, it works hard to provide quality food and quality service. As a result of this philosophy it has a dedicated customer base. Oliver’s doesn’t automatically follow its competition. For example, it does not offer home delivery or curbside shopping, preferring instead to focus on high quality and great service.
Oliver’s also works hard to contribute to this community. It sponsors a variety of Sonoma County social services organizations, such as Santa Rosa Community Health and SAY. It also offers community cards, which donate up to 3% of purchases to charities of the customer’s choice. It also continued to offer the beloved senior discounts every Wednesday! In 2017, Oliver’s became a Social Purpose Corporation when Steve Maass established an Employee Stock Ownership Plan to reward employees with a share of ownership in the company. The company is in the process of transferring 43% of its stock to employees through this ESOP!
Many thanks to Scott and Sara for the great presentation about one of Sonoma County’s great businesses. You make our county better every day!
View the recording of Scott Gross and Sara Cummings' presentation by clicking HERE! Limited time offer.
