Grocery Outlet owners are community-minded

This is the first business Tony and Tina Slyter have owned

By Barbara Sherman

The Regal Courier, Sep 25, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Barbara Sherman / Regal Courier

READY TO SERVE — Tina and Tony Slyter are planning changes for the King City Grocery Outlet and want to “give back 10 times more than they get” to the community.

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Tony and Tina Slyter recently became the third owners of the Grocery Outlet store in the King City Shopping Center, and they are jumping in feet first to become active community members.

"I knew I wanted to do community service," Tina said. "It's important for both of us to get out there and talk to people. I think we compliment each other. Tony is going to join the (King City) Lions. We feel God granted us this store to be involved in the community. Our goal is to give back 10 times more than we get."

They plan to be involved in food drives and other causes.

"Owning our own store allows us to give back," Tony said. "If we were working for another store, our hands would be tied, but here our hands aren't tied. We didn't do this to get rich - we did it to give back.

"It's amazing the reception we're getting. I want people to feel it's their store. In this economy, we see more families coming in from all walks of life. Grocery Outlet is known for having good prices, and we will save people money."

Grocery Outlet owners are in partnership with the parent company but own their merchandise and hire their own employees.

"Grocery Outlet has suggested prices, but we have latitude in setting them to stay competitive," Tony said.

Owning his own grocery store has been a dream of Tony's, and he has worked in the field during his career.

He grew up in Gresham, while Tina was born and raised in Longview before her family moved to Springfield when she was 12; the couple met at the University of Oregon and have been together since 1984.

Tony worked for Ware Mart, which is now WinCo, for 14 years, and later managed a Safeway and a Thriftway store at the same time.

"I had always talked about owning my own business," Tony said. "Tina talked about owning her own business, but I don't think it was a grocery store that she had in mind."

The couple, who live in the Parkrose area, refer to "God's timing" when they decided 16 months ago to go through the Grocery Outlet training program in Washington so that they would be considered when a store became available.

"We had to put a business plan together that included how we would run our business, what we could offer a specific community and how we would grow the store," Tony said. "We got excited when this store became available. People are so welcoming here."

According to the Slyters, they can pick and choose the products to be sold in the store.

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