2023 Super King Anniversary

A true American Dream

The 30th anniversary of Super King Markets in 2023 is a testament to the hard work and dedication of its founders, the Fermanian family. But it also is a celebration of the company, its values, family-style management approach and tremendous loyalty and support from a fervent customer base. For this special section, The Shelby Report of the West’s Bob Reeves visited with the Fermanians, Super King executives and others to share the story of this thriving Southern California grocery-retailer.

Fermanian family marks milestone, focused on future

The Fermanian family of Super King Markets in Southern California is living the American dream, finding success through much hard work and determination. This year, they are celebrating the company’s 30th anniversary.

Of Armenian heritage, the family lived in Lebanon before moving to Abu Dhabi to escape the war. Peter Fermanian, his wife, Mary, and son Jake moved to the United States in 1989. Their younger son, Shant, was born later.

Peter Fermanian continued working as an air conditioning technician for a few years before taking a chance on getting into the grocery business.

He said he loved the food business, as he had grown up helping in his father’s produce store. Now, the family is on its third generation of working in produce and grocery.

Peter and Mary Fermanian opened their first store in Anaheim, California, in 1993. The store was small, about 2,500 square feet, and featured produce, meat and grocery. It was called Anaheim King Market.

The undertaking required dedication and long hours.

“We were not working three, four hours a day. We do every day 20 hours. When you’re working hard, everything is going to be easy,” Peter Fermanian said.

Vache Fermanian, Peter’s brother, had been working in the jewelry business when asked to join the family business. They decided on the “King” part of the name in honor of their father, who they called “the king of fruit.”

The Anaheim store, which had a large produce section, became successful and the business started to grow. After expanding to about 7,000 square feet, customer demand led to an even larger location. About 10 years after starting the company, the Fermanians had opened a 30,000-square-foot store.

Vache, Peter, Mary, Jake and Clara Fermanian

After 30 years, Super King Markets now has eight stores in Los Angeles and Orange counties and is one of the highest volume independent supermarkets, Vache Fermanian said.

The brothers attribute the success to following their vision and finding their niche. They focused on what they knew best – produce. While the other departments – such as grocery, liquor, meat, service deli – are important, produce is Super King’s niche. Working together as a family also is key.

Peter, Mary and Vache Fermanian worked closely together and put in long hours when building the business. “We will always be not afraid to take the risk. So we jumped and we took a lot of risk. With every store we opened, it was a big risk,” Vache Fermanian said.

As it expanded, the company bought stores closed by other grocers and “turned them around and made them successful stores,” he said.

Super King works with a couple of hundred suppliers for produce, grocery and meat. These partnerships have contributed to the company’s success, along with its associates and customers.

The brothers noted the loyalty of their customers and also how lucky they have been to be surrounded by good associates.

“We always build a good team. The team does the job and makes our life easier,” they said.

Jake Fermanian, VP of Super King, said he saw how hard his family worked when they started the business.

“I saw them put in 20 hours a day, every day, for many years, seven days a week. I think I was 7 years old, and I really recognized the meaning of hard work and what that looked like. Even with today’s generation, I think it’s unmatched what they did,” he said.

As an example of the family’s work ethic, Jake Fermanian recalled “they would go to the produce market at 1 a.m., they would receive produce at 6 a.m., they would open the store at 7 a.m., they would take a lunch at 1 p.m., they would take a 30-minute nap, then they would go home at 9 p.m.” He said they would sleep for a few hours before starting over again at 1 a.m.

“I remember those days very clearly. I was a young kid and, just again, watching this thing evolve from a 3,000-square-foot store with five employees to…eight stores. It’s been a dream. And hopefully this dream continues to grow with the generations to come,” Jake Fermanian said.

After graduating from college in 2007, he joined the company full time in the meat department as a buyer. He also worked in marketing and IT before becoming involved in other areas. As the company added more locations, the importance of “structure, technology and process, and systems and people” became more evident. Today, Super King is a top retailer in the U.S., Jake Fermanian said.

He has learned a lot from his father and his uncle. “We spend a lot of time together and we try to vet things out – high risk, low risk, [a combination of the two]. I’m probably the high-risk guy in some cases, and in other cases they are, so it’s been a good dynamic.

“With my cousin [Clara] coming

Please see page 20

original logo

Anaheim - 2003 Anaheim opening - 2003

Peter Fermanian in 1993

Altadena opening - 2008

The Fermanian brothers in 2008

From page 18

into the business now, it just allows a little bit more of an opportunity of new life, new vision, new blood. Hopefully, she finds that passion and can innovate and add value to the company.”

The brothers added that, to succeed in the business, it is important to like the job and working with the family. “You have to like the job; you have to put in the time and the energy,” they said.

Clara Fermanian recently graduated from Pepperdine University with a degree in business administration. She, too, worked at Super King while growing up.

“We were always involved from the very beginning, whether it was decorating cupcakes in the bakery or attending ad meetings,” she said. “We were always sort of sitting in and learning as much as we could as little kids. So since then, I’ve had that interest. Just waiting to get that education, and then join the family business.”

She said she is trying to absorb as much as she can. “I love it. I love the busy days…I’m at corporate, but I love being in the stores. I love communicating with our customers. I love spending time with our store directors, walking the store with them. That’s where I learn the most.”

Clara Fermanian currently works closely with the center store buying team – grocery, DDF, bakery, mixed nuts and liquor. “Between those five departments I’m staying pretty busy,” she said.

Although not an official family member, VP of Operations Damian Valdez has worked with the Fermanians for 15 years. He came aboard after being recruited from another Southern California retailer. When he started with Super King at its Anaheim store, the company had two locations.

A bit apprehensive to move from a 15-16 store chain to one with two locations, Valdez said he felt from his first day that he had made the right decision.

“It was a big change, a drastic change for me in my life. But so far, 15 years later, here we are today. I’ve enjoyed much success, thanks to the family,” he said.

Valdez said building the corporate office from the ground up was “very near and dear to my heart because I saw what we came from to what we are today. And the fact that I was able to touch from A to Z – from design,

concept and just overall finished product – meant a lot to me personally. The end result definitely speaks for itself.”

He said he would love to see Super King continue to grow and succeed. Customers are always asking what’s next, where’s the next location.

“We’ve done a really good job as a company to set up our infrastructure to explore rapid growth, although that’s not the direction we want to go,” he explained. “We want to make sure that it’s the right location and it’s the right approach for the company and the direction we want to go in.”

Claremont - 2011

Matriarch keeps finances –

and so much more – on track

Although her official title with Super King Markets is CFO, Mary Fermanian has done a bit of everything since the company’s start. She and her husband, Peter, along with his brother, Vache, built the business from its original Anaheim location to eight stores in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

She and Peter met through their families in Beirut, Lebanon. They became engaged and were married within six months. She was 22, he was 27.

They left Lebanon due to war and moved to Abu Dhabi, where Peter had found work as an air conditioning technician. Their son Jake was born there. The young family decided to move to the United States to join their families, and soon welcomed another son, Shant.

They settled in Southern California, where Peter continued his work as an A/C technician. The couple shopped each week in Middle Eastern stores and “saw that having a food business is very fascinating.”

Mary Fermanian said her husband noted that “food has no recession” and that even people at war need food. So they decided to get into the food business.

While she had not worked outside the home before, Mary Fermanian became a grocery buyer and drove the trucks while her husband bought produce. She also continued taking care of their two young children, taking them to school, picking them up and attending ball games.

“I never missed a basketball game. I never missed a bank deposit. I never missed an order for my store,” she said. “I put [everything] on the shelves, all the grocery. I do the schematics…I take care of my customers on my registers. At night, I go prepare my

deposit for the next day.”

She made sure everyone – employees and vendors –were paid. For the first 10 years they were in business, Mary Fermanian said she got up at 4 a.m. each day and went to bed at 1 a.m., when her husband would go to the produce market. “Our challenge was a daily challenge,” she said.

Peter and Mary Fermanian

Mary Fermanian with sons Shant (left) and Jake

Reyes Coca-Cola & Monster Energy

would like to congratulate Super King on celebrating their 30th year of excellence and for being a staple in the community!

For the first three years, they just had one cashier, one butcher and one produce helper to help run the store alongside the family. She said her husband worked almost 24/7. She was able to drop the kids after school with her mother and then return to the store. “When I think about it, I was so blessed with health that God gave that I was able to do it all.”

Mary Fermanian has always handled the company’s finances but now has general managers and a VP of finance to help out. “Thank God, we never had any problems all these years, even with recessions. I have controlled the cash flow, the financials,” she said.

She shared her pride in her children. Shant, the youngest, also worked at the company as a buyer but decided to pursue law school. He is an attorney with his own firm.

“But then he chose to pursue his goal, which is being an attorney,” she said. “He went to law school, and he was continuously at the school at that time. He graduated, and he is a successful lawyer now.”

Jake, the older son, is “a huge contributor to Super King’s growth and success.”

“If we go back to 30 years, we were just a mom and pop store,” she said. “But then his thinking, his innovation of technology and inserting that in our company business, with all the competition, challenges and identifying the business opportunities and putting Super King in a different spotlight – he was the reason for it.”

Mary Fermanian said they have overcome many challenges in establishing and growing Super King Markets.

“When you start thinking and have big goals…all the challenges in 30 years brought us here. We catered internationally; it was our goal. We kept with the innovations, with the technology system, with the vendor relations and employee labor challenges and growing together as a team.”

Partnership with Fermanian family appreciated

“We appreciate the strong partnership Barilla has had with the Fermanian family and the Super King team and look forward to many more years of working together to serve the community. On behalf of the Barilla team, we congratulate Super King and all of its employees on 30 years of delighting consumers across the communities that you serve.”

– Michael Ajemian, director of sales, Barilla America

The Fermanian family in 2008

Produce is driver, ‘the heart’ when it comes to stores

At Super King Markets, produce is king. Eddie Avila, director of produce, joined the company in 2017, with more than 30 years of industry experience.

Avila, who had worked for Albertsons in Southern California for 32 years, said he didn’t realize what a produce buyer was until he got into the independent grocer arena.

“When I was working for Albertsons, our job was to fulfill the orders…now, working for Super King Market, it really opens your eyes and teaches you how to buy,” he explained. “You’re going out there and you’re looking for quality, value and cost. You want to get the right cost so that you can pass it on to your customers.”

That has been the main difference. Avila said at his previous job he didn’t consider himself a buyer because he was just fulfilling orders, no matter the cost.

“Here, it’s very important to me – and it’s important to my numbers and it’s important to my customers – that I find the right product at the right price and the right quality…that’s the biggest difference that I noticed in the 30-some years that I’ve been doing this. When I came to Super King, I learned how to buy.”

The volume of produce also has been different. Avila said three of Super King’s eight stores get two-and-a-half to three trucks of produce a day. The other locations get two. “And these are full trucks of produce…it’s a big difference in volume. We just move tonnage.”

Avila has three buyers on his team. He said Super King is one of the only retailers to go in and walk the Los Angeles produce market every day. “That’s to keep the pulse, to find out exactly what’s going on. And it’s a big benefit to us.”

He credits the Fermanian family, owners of Super King, with finding a great warehouse location across the street from the L.A. market. “We know what’s happening every day, on every commodity.”

The produce departments in the Super King stores are popular with customers, especially when their favorite items are on sale. Avila cited jackfruit as an example.

“Jackfruit is something that’s been around for many, many years but is not known by many people,” he said. “When I came to Super King, it was something that wasn’t

really ever pushed. Jackfruit is an Asian fruit that Asians love. They go in and they’ll buy as much as they can get their hands on when they find a great price.”

One Super King location has a large Asian clientele. “We put the jackfruit at three pounds for 99 [cents], and we had customers fighting – literally, yelling at each other – because it was their jackfruit…they couldn’t get their arms around enough.”

Eddie Avila

From page 26

Avila said the store ended up selling 10-15 pallets of jackfruit a day in that store, “which was unheard of.” Persian cucumbers are another popular item at Super King.

“They’ve been pushing Persian cucumbers here in this company forever,” he said. “In a typical retailer, the No. 1 item is banana, and then you go to a Roma tomato or some type of tomato for No. 2. Here in our company, it’s Persian [cucumbers].

“When we put them [in our] ad, customers will push each other, and you hear five or six different languages at the table…sometimes we have to separate them.”

According to Avila, those anecdotes show that customers are paying attention to the Super King ads and to the quality and price of the produce. “They like what we’re doing for the consumer.”

Please see page 30

From page 28

Avila praised the Fermanian family for knowing that produce is the driver. “We see it in the sales,” he said. “Produce is the driver when it comes to Super King. It’s the heart, it’s what keeps the company going.”

He went on to describe Super King’s produce departments as “massive,” adding that its competitors have “nothing in comparison to what we have.” Walking into the newer stores, the first thing customers encounter is the produce department.

“We have big departments, and we still try to do what we can outside with a farmers market look to entice [customers],” he said. “It is a unique concept and very, very different than what everybody else is doing.”

To deal with such a large volume, Avila said produce is ordered in advance to be “ahead of the game.”

“You order Monday for a Wednesday ad. You don’t order Tuesday for a Wednesday ad,” he explained. “All of our suppliers are getting used to knowing that we’re going to break an ad on a Wednesday, but I’m going to expect the produce in the warehouse on Monday.

“It’s just to be prepared, because a lot of our suppliers are hesitant now to give us ad pricing because we move so much volume.”

As opposed to some grocers that order one truckload, Super King is asking for three to five. “We’re running Roma tomatoes on ad this week, and I’m bringing in five truckloads. That’s almost a truckload a store, if you start looking at it. You have to be prepared.”

Avila said the other buyers on his team came into the department with little to no experience in produce.

Please see page 32

Visitor turned valet helped park customers’ cars

“After nearly 30 years in business, Super King has distinguished itself as a significant and diverse ethnic retailer in Southern California. It is a true family business success story and they continue to draw from their cultural diversity and attention to quality products at fair prices.

“The team is a pleasure to call on from corporate and store-level interaction, and I feel a true partnership with them. Super King stores feature an impressive array of multicultural products that reflect this cultural diversity, from Middle Eastern and Armenian foods to Hispanic, Asian and many other international groceries.

“My working relationship began with Super King in early 2021 during COVID-19. Supply issues were difficult, and trying to develop new business relationships while working remote proved challenging. However, I found that Super King’s level of engagement with their local communities also extended to its business vendors and wholesalers, and I was excited for the opportunity to work with them.

“Growing up in my family’s grocery business, I would often hear about different retailers and members of Certified Grocers (at the time) and ‘Super King’ or ‘King’s Market’ (as it was known back then) always came up in discussion. My family is of Chaldean descent (immigrating here in 1978), more commonly known as Iraqi-Christian.

“In San Diego, there is a large community of Chaldeans. Up until 2010, our traditional foods – spices, sweets, pita breads, Persian cucumbers, etc. – were hard to find. We didn’t have large-size Middle Eastern markets in San Diego, so it was very common for groups of Chaldean families to charter a bus to Super King’s Anaheim location to shop for these hard-to-find foods. My earliest memories of Super King were of the stories told at family gatherings about the most recent bus trip to Super King with their variety of Middle Eastern goods and low prices.

“I continue to be amazed at how busy Super King locations have become and the volume of groceries and produce they move. One of my most recent memorable experiences of working with Super King came during a visit to the Anaheim location for a store walk with Damian Valdez, VP of operations. It was Wednesday and the first day of the weekly ad. The parking lot had almost as much traffic as the I-5 freeway during rush hour. Cars were backed up to the shopping center’s entrance on Magnolia.

“Damian stood outside the store directing traffic for a few minutes to help ease the congestion, and he called me over. I thought he would ask me to help direct traffic with him. Instead, he asked me to help the customers by parking their cars for them. Yes, that day I worked valet for Super King.

“Damian and I laughed as he took a picture of me parking cars for customers. The most humorous part was customers’ willingness to leave me their cars so they could rush inside to make sure they were able to buy their portion of the Jackfruit that was on sale. Super King was truly in action for their community that day, and I was happy to be a part of it.

“Congratulations to Vache, Peter, the Fermanian Family, and the entire Super King team on celebrating 30 years of business. I wish you many more years of continued growth and success. Thank you for all of your contributions to the independent retail grocery industry.”

– Ivan Arabo, account manager for UNFI in Southern California

From page 30

“It was nice for me because I got to train these guys from not knowing anything, to learning what I’ve done for the last 30-some years,” he said. “And we’ve been able to maintain the volume and the commodities so that we don’t run short, and we have supply for our customers.”

The produce buying team meets every Monday morning with Peter, Vache and Jake Fermanian to discuss the upcoming ad and the previous week’s sales, Avila said. They talk about what’s coming up and what they need to do better. He said he also talks to the stores’ produce managers via conference call every other week to keep them involved and share information.

“Vache, Peter and Jake are very, very well involved. I talk to ownership every single day, three to four times a day,” he said.

As Avila noted, that communication is important. “Like we say, ‘As produce goes, so goes the company.’ We have to be right.”

Avila is married with two grown children, who are not in the business. It is a tough field, he said, adding that he gets up at 3 a.m. each day. “You either love it or you don’t. If you love it, you do it for 37 years that I’ve been doing it. If you don’t, you’re gone in a couple of years.”

Avila has found a successful career in produce. “I’ve been married 34 years this March,” he said. “I think my wife loves it that I love it.”

Large, varied liquor selection boosts traffic with popular sales

Harry Cherkesyan has been with Super King Markets for 17 years. He is the director of center store, which includes liquor, dry groceries and mixed nuts.

Cherkesyan worked for Jon’s Markets for 16 years before starting at Super King. He said he had decided it was time to see what else was out there.

While he had experience in grocery, he said his hobby is liquor. “So that’s how I became a grocery buyer, liquor buyer, mixed nut buyer, bakery buyer. I did everything, and then I started training other people so I could move up and manage.” He now has six buyers on his team.

While all of the departments are important to him, the liquor department at Super King is a bit unique. “We do find items that are very limited in the industry, and not many people could put their hands on them.” This includes several international selections, such as Japanese whiskies and Armenian brandies.

The large and varied selection is a draw itself, but the department sees even more traffic when Super King has a sale on liquor. “When it’s a sale, it’s really a sale…we want to make sure you know it’s on sale. And everybody in the industry is going to know that we’re running the lowest price.”

The company also has an alcohol e-commerce division, shopsk.com, where it offers same day local delivery, ground shipping and pickup. The liquor department is a store within the store, making it seamless for customers and giving them a five-star experience outside of the grocery store.

Cherkesyan said his buying team does a great job across all departments. “We trained them, we picked them. A lot of them got promoted from in store. They move up; the [Fermanian] family cares for their employees.”

According to Cherkesyan, that is one reason he joined the company. From his first day, the family has treated him like family. “I feel like I’m a family member. I’m not related to them, but I feel like they’re family to me.”

Harry Cherkesyan

Cherkesyan and the Fermanian family share an Armenian heritage. He was born in Armenia while they came from Lebanon. Cherkesyan is married with two daughters, neither of whom is following in his career footsteps. “The grocery business is a very good business, but it’s not for everybody. You need to like the business to get into this.”

Reliable team always exceeding expectations

“We’d like to express our gratitude and appreciation for all the support Super King has given to Green Life Farms. The Super King team has always been professional, reliable and exceeded expectations. It has been a pleasure working with Super King, and we wish them continued success and a long bright future.”

– Jaime Torres, CFO, Green Life Farms

Decision-making process quick, simple, ‘all about the customer’

While Gabriel Mercado has been with Super King Markets for just seven months, he has been in the grocery business for the last 20 years. The VP of finance and accounting at Super King said he started his career at H-E-B in Texas, then in Mexico.

While at H-E-B, he moved from accounting and finance into merchandising. After leaving, he worked at several other retailers, all on the procurement and merchandising side.

Mercado has an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He is a licensed CPA in Texas and has his AICPA certificate.

Mercado said Super King is a retailer he has always respected. “I’ve always thought they had very well-run stores, very clean stores, lots of traffic. It’s almost like going to Disneyland when you walk into a store, especially when the ad breaks on Wednesdays.”

The fact that Super King is local to the Los Angeles area was another plus. “I’ve had opportunities to move elsewhere, but we really love the L.A. area,” he said. “Our family’s here, our friends are here. It was a good opportunity to join a great operator locally.”

Mercado enjoys working with the Fermanian family. “They're very polite, respectful and appreciative people, which is not necessarily the case everywhere.”

They value his opinion and don’t micromanage, allowing him and his team to make decisions. He added they also listen to recommendations.

“If it makes sense for the company, for everybody, then we go with it,” he said. “It’s a flat organization, so we’re very quick to make decisions. We always focus on the customer first. All of our decisions are based on making sure the customer comes first. Our decision-making process is very quick and very simple because it's all about the customer.”

In addition to regularly scheduled meetings with the Fermanians, Mercado said they also meet informally every day. “There’s a combination of structured meetings as well as just as things are happening. Again, like I said, we’re very flat, so it’s easy to get a hold of each other and have the conversations we need to have.”

Mercado said he enjoys his job, as it is not a traditional finance role. At Super King,

the VP of finance role has “a lot more weight than it does in other places.” He gets to meet with the operators and merchants and “really talk about their business numerically and from a customer perspective, as well.”

“And then there's, of course, the traditional finance side where we're working with the banks and the auditors and preparing financial statements, reports and analysis,” he said. “But it doesn't just end there. I'm actually able to see it through with the actual stakeholders.”

Mercado reports to Mary Fermanian for traditional finance and accounting manners. When involved with operations and merchandising, depending on the topic, he reports to Jake or Vache Fermanian, sometimes both.

While he does not set pricing, Mercado provides feedback on pricing strategy, category roles and competitive pricing.

“I help them, I ask them questions. I help them think about their role, how they want to position themselves within specific categories,” he said. “I'm trying to streamline how we do the competitive price checks. Then once all of that conversation is had, ultimately the merchant is still the one setting their price.”

Looking to the future, Mercado said growth is critical to the success of the company. “I think we’re always excited about and open to opportunities that make sense” for Super King, adding it is “a little different than most independents.”

Gabriel Mercado

Managers: Family pays attention to detail, quality and service

Raffi Karayan and Vahan Magtesian share district manager duties for Super King Markets in Southern California.

Karayan has been with the company for 15 years, Magtesian for 17 years. Both previously spent 20-plus years with Jon’s Markets.

The two work together to make sure everything runs smoothly, from operations, employment and quality issues – “the whole thing,” Karayan said.

Karayan and Magtesian enjoy working with the Fermanian family, owners of Super King.

“The family is very involved,” Magtesian said. “They’re very giving people. For them, to give to the community is more important than making profit.”

He said when he started working for the company, Vache Fermanian told him he wanted to make friends instead of money. “For him, if he found a good deal, he would not benefit from it. He will say just pass it to the customers. Make the customers happy.”

According to Karayan, the family has created a high-volume, good quality, clean, lean operation.

Both district managers praised the Fermanian family’s work ethic.

“They worked very hard to get where they are,” Magtesian said. “And everybody likes them. All the employees like them; everybody enjoys working with them. Very seldom [do] people quit because they really love working in this company.”

Karayan noted the “commitment and dedication” of the Fermanian family. “Everybody’s on top of the business and taking care of business. It’s not like putting it on cruise control. They’re on site, they’re on the floor. They pay attention to detail, quality and service.”

Magtesian added that the owners “have a great drive to constantly improve the stores, making sure the store cleanliness is up to standard, making sure the stores are always in great shape.”

All the Super King stores have been remodeled and “every store is beautiful,” he said. “We want to have a good image and good presentation for the company. Also, they take care of the employees, they make sure everybody’s treated well.”

Both men have a passion for the grocery industry.

“As I always say to my store directors, to all the employees, if you don’t like this job, get out. Because this job is passion. It’s taking care of customers…every day is a

challenge,” Karayan said.

He said he calls his store directors every morning and always tells them, “It’s a beautiful day because every day is a beautiful day to wake up and see what accomplishments and what achievements have been done and where Super King has gone.”

Magtesian, who graduated from technical college in electronic engineering, said his passion is grocery. “I ended up working in the grocery business. I love working with people, so I chose management.”

Juan Uriba, store director at Anaheim; Damian Valdez, VP of operations; and Vahan Magtesian, district manager

Hands-on, involved approach has been key to owners’ success

Sam Barrow, senior director of human resources, was recruited to join Super King Markets eight years ago. At the time, he served as human resources manager for a Japanese-based hospitality group in its Los Angeles office.

Of his role with the grocer, Barrow said: “We try to support our employees and give them all the tools that they need to make it into work and have a good career here at Super King Markets. We try to keep the stores fully staffed, which is kind of hard to do nowadays.”

He added his greatest issue is finding and retaining employees. “The job market’s kind of dried up. Not a lot of people are willing to come back to work just yet. Finding good talent, that’s the biggest challenge we have right now. And retaining them – that’s a close second.”

As Super King Markets caters to customers of different ethnic backgrounds, finding employees who speak other languages is helpful for certain locations. “Our Glendale location has a strong Armenian population. It’s beneficial to be fluent in a second language. But for the other locations, not so much.”

Support for team members includes a company benefit plan, employee recognition and 401(k). “We try to give them a really good work-life balance.”

Barrow said the produce departments at Super King locations always are given a priority as far as staffing goes. The company looks to fill those vacancies from within when possible. When hiring from outside the company, he said they look for someone who has at least some prior experience working in a produce department.

Due to the large variety and quantity of produce

that Super King carries, Barrow said the learning curve for new employees is a bit longer due to the number of SKUs and items that are not as familiar. “Our managers are pretty experienced, so they bring their employees around relatively quickly.”

Barrow is in the office at 6 a.m. each day. Around lunchtime, he said he tries to visit a few stores. His goal is to visit all eight locations each week.

He said he enjoys working in the family-owned business. The environment “translates from the corporate office all the way out to the stores. Our staff members spend a lot of time together…they bond together pretty well. We have a family-like, fun atmosphere at our locations.”

Barrow praised the Fermanian family’s approach to the business. “They’re at the stores speaking with employees; they’re with the purchasing team. They try to solve problems with all their staff members whenever anything comes up. So as far as being hands on, and being involved, that’s where I think the biggest part of their success comes from.”

Super King’s corporate office

Tour showcases grocer’s strengths – selection, quality, price

Super King Markets is well known for its produce department, which features vast quantities of well-known and lesser-known items. But that is not all that the eight Southern California locations have to offer.

For the company’s 30th anniversary, The Shelby Report of the West’s EVP Bob Reeves recently visited Super King Markets’ Anaheim store on Magnolia. Damian Valdez, VP of operations, and Harry Cherkesyan, director of grocery, led the tour.

The first impression of the store is the massive produce department. Customers crowd around the large bins of produce – massive boxes and crates.

However, the glass-enclosed liquor department also draws attention. It has its own checkout station.

Valdez said the company made the decision a couple of years ago to invest in this area.

“Our concept is a store within the store, where we’re giving our shoppers a unique experience when it comes to liquor.”

He said the department features many different wines and high-end liqueurs and liquors from around the world “that are really specialty items that are unique to this specific market. That’s what I think our customers enjoy. They come, and it’s almost like a treasure find.”

Cherkesyan compared the department to the duty-free section at an airport. “This is

like duty free inside the store. We do an outstanding job finding items, unique items, that our customers are interested in…it’s like a toy store for adults.”

Valdez said Super King caters to all customers. “You have your high end that’s willing to spend $4,000 or $5,000 on a unique bottle, down to your average consumer that’s looking for a bargain and a deal for a party. They’re looking at our $9.99, $19.99 retails on a tequila or vodka or a scotch.”

He said Super King carries the product and inventory that many other stores don’t offer. “We care for every single customer from anywhere they come.”

Super King also offers gift boxes in its liquor department. “Liquor is a gift that keeps on giving…liquor is a universal thing that can be gifted out for the guests you’re going to visit,” Cherkesyan said.

Super King has gift boxes supplied by the vendors, as well as its own gift packing services. “We have these nice deluxe boxes that we can package the bottles in so that you can take it with you and give out as a present,” he said.

Cherkesyan added that they also will pack and ship the boxes for customers.

Coming out of the liquor department, shoppers can find a large selection of beer, including a variety of international brands.

“It comes from all over the world – from Germany, from Armenia, from Poland, that’s what sets up apart. We cater to different customers, and they want to find these items,” Cherkesyan said.

In addition to traditional items, Super King’s frozen food section offers a selection of international ice creams. “We cater to different customers. This is, for them, like being home,” Cherkesyan said.

Shelves in the center store area feature overhead storage. Cherkesyan explained that this helps the company on the labor side. “We don’t have to take the product all the way back into the warehouse. We can keep our top-selling SKUs up in the overhead. It’s a lot easier and convenient for clerks to be able to fill up the shelves and maintain everything fully stocked for our customers to have a good shopping experience.”

Please see page 42

Jorge Luna, produce department since 1995

Super King has invested in warehouse space, with two locations for the eight-store chain.

“That’s a lot of real estate when it comes to warehousing, and we’re definitely always looking for buy opportunities with the vendor community where it’ll be beneficial for both sides,” Cherkesyan said. “Not only is the pricing beneficial, but it also helps us secure inventory, especially during these turbulent times where a lot of the top selling items are scarce because of availability. It’s helped us out tremendously.

Walking to the rice section, shoppers find that Super King offers a large and varied selection.

Also found on stores shelves is a wide selection of grape leaves in several varieties, marinated tomatoes, marinated cucumbers, caviars, eggplant and olives from around the world.

Valdez said the varied selection of offerings sets Super King apart. “We encourage everybody to stop by and pick up something new and try something different. I assure you that you will not be disappointed.”

“Our buyers, they do a very good job servicing different communities,” Cherkesyan said. “And in order for us to service them 100 percent, we bring the rice from a lot of different countries.”

The largest bags are 10 pounds, to cater to families. Super King customers do a lot of scratch cooking, eating more at home than in restaurants. They also like to buy in bulk.

“That’s why our produce department is big, because they buy big,” Cherkesyan said. “Our meat department is big. They cook from scratch.”

Super King also has its private label products. Cherkesyan said the company is “doing an excellent job on this.” Super King started its private label about 10 years ago. “It’s successful. Customers, they love it.”

The company packs the products, stores them in the warehouse and then ships to the stores. It controls the inventory. Even during the pandemic, when many stores were short on food, grain and other items, Super King didn’t run out. “We were doing our own warehousing. Private label helped us to be in business,” he said.

Private label items include water, meats, shrimp and fish. Spices are a big seller. “Our business in spice is huge,” Cherkesyan said. He noted that the company is looking to add more items under its private label.

The selection of olives –from Greece, Morocco, Spain, Lebanon and Israel – takes up about 12 feet of shelf space. “We’re very big on olives. It sets up apart,” Cherkesyan said. “This whole thing will be gone this week.”

Boxed chocolates in a variety of choices are another popular item at Super King. “We try to cater to everybody. We have chocolates from all over the world,” he said.

Valdez pointed out that each Super King location is different. “Every store is unique in its own right.” Selection and quantity of products depend on the demographic a particular location is catering to.

For example, the Anaheim store has a small set of boxed chocolates, while the L.A. store has a 24-foot section of chocolate, Valdez said. “It’s a more established clientele for us there. And that store, specifically, there’s a lot of pairing with alcohol and chocolates” that many customers give as gifts.

Carlos Gonzalez, director of meat and seafood

Reaching the halva and honey section of center store, Valdez noted the two products are a huge category. Cherkesyan added that while many stores carry halva, they only have a small area. Super King offers a much broader selection of both.

Natural juice also does well at Super King, which offers a variety of choices, including some from Armenia. Cherkesyan said the selection is known to the community. “They know where to find us.”

“It’s definitely the offerings that we have in the store, the selection, the pricing and the quality that we offer both in the fresh departments and center store,” Valdez said.

Both agreed that at Super King, quality and price are No. 1.

Entering the produce department, the first thing many notice is its size. “It’s definitely the feature point of the store,” said Valdez, adding that produce is “probably 50 percent of the store footprint.”

Super King is known for its produce and its meat departments, he said. “As you walk in the store, you definitely have a good line of sight of both the produce and the meat departments…we’re big on our quality, we’re big on the pricing.”

He said the company has larger displays because “the rotation is going to be there for us.”

Super King buys about 90 percent of its produce direct from the growers, Valdez said, which affords an opportunity to maintain freshness in the department. Everything comes through the company’s warehouse. “We are our own quality control check. If a store director sees that something doesn't look right, usually they'll send out a picture. The buyer, within seconds – minutes at the most – is replying back, ‘pull it off the

shelf. Let's send it back, we'll correct it.’”

Valdez said the Fermanians enjoy spending time in the produce department. He said they are the biggest advocates for quality control.

“As they’re walking the stores, if they see something that’s bruised or maybe changing colors a little too quickly, they’ll let the buying team know. And as I mentioned, we’re reacting right away. The fact that we have our own distribution center when it comes to produce allows us to do those quick turnarounds, so that the customers aren't fazed during their shopping experience.”

He again noted that many Super King shoppers cook at home. They start in the produce department, then go to the meat department and from there to the grocery shelves.

“They’re really planning their meal for the day, for the week, sometimes even for the month if they’re not wanting to do frequent trips,” he said. “But that’s our customer base. They aren’t afraid to come in and do their full shopping experience so that they can prepare meals for their families.”

Also part of the Super King experience is music.

“We’ve received several comments from our customers that they’ll come in and they’ll hear a song that will instantly take them back to when they were younger,” Valdez said. “You do hear people singing, and you see people dancing down the aisles. Not only are they enjoying themselves because of the items we have – the quality, the pricing – but because you’re getting that good overall atmosphere with the music, as well.”

Entering the seafood department, Valdez said the company is continuously working to find unique items

Please see page 44

in addition to shrimp, tilapia and salmon. He said they recently started to carry pompano, which has been selling well.

“It’s definitely a department that we’re proud of…the overall presentation and experience that customers are getting from it.”

In the meat department, pre-packaged meats of different cuts and sizes are on display in open, refrigerated cases. Cherkesyan said this is part of Super King’s open concept. “It looks modern, it looks unique and puts us apart from everybody else.”

Valdez agreed, adding that they want to stay with the open concept feel “so that you can really see the entire store from any point that

you’re standing.”

Keeping in line with that open concept, Super King also emphasizes its full-service meat department. There are several employees available to help customers, Valdez said. A “huge selection” of marinated meats also is available and is popular, he said.

In an effort to stay ahead of the curve as far as technology goes, Valdez said the company uses digital tags in the meat, produce, service deli and liquor departments. He said this allows Super King to maintain schematic integrity “because employees don’t need to move the tags around.”

It also allows them to control pricing from one location. “We’re able to send down pricing by location from headquarters, or we can do a single batch that goes throughout the entire company,” Valdez said. “For these two departments – specifically meat and produce – you have a market that’s changing and fluctuating almost daily. It helps us keep within our margin target goals.”

Prices for items on sale are displayed in red on the digital tags. Customers have learned to look for the color. “Everybody’s looking for a bargain, everybody’s looking for a deal. That red call out is definitely our hot ticket item. It’s an item that you shouldn’t miss; you shouldn’t pass up,” he said.

The cheese department includes selections from all over the world, Cherkesyan said, adding that Super King’s cheese buyer is “probably one of the best in the industry.”

Bulk cheeses are available to customers, as well, Valdez said.

Cherkesyan added that a lot of chefs and restaurant owners shop at Super King and like to buy in bulk.

In the bakery department, Super King is known for its pita bread and lavash bread. “Our customers

come early morning to make sure they pick up fresh bread,” Valdez said. “All of this bread is coming in daily.”

Another area that commands a high profile is mixed nuts, a self-serve department that Valdez said is popular.

In deli, Valdez said the Anaheim store is one of two locations that has separated its cold cuts from cheeses. It is a busy department, and the store wants to give customers a unique shopping experience.

The bakery is in the middle, with cheeses to the right and cold cuts the left “so the customer can really plan out their sandwich from start to finish, from corner to corner.”

Coffee is another popular item. Super King offers bulk coffee beans from several countries, including Colombia, Brazil and the Mediterranean. “We cater to everybody,” Cherkesyan said.

The store also has a grinding service, so customers can pick their beans and have them ground to order.

Super King offers online ordering and has its own delivery fleet to serve a select area, Valdez said. The company operates a separate division for its delivery services and drivers, which is operated from a different location.

“That’s really our hub, where we’re centralized to the population we’re trying to serve. And so far, it’s been very successful for us. It’s definitely expanding; potentially, it can grow to where we’ll have a fleet of 10-15 cars.”

Valdez said Super King has the same offerings online as in-store, but “the big deal about coming into the store is that you may find a treasure, something that you didn’t expect to find that you wouldn’t be searching for online.”