Santa Clara’s newest grocery store is Nob Hill Foods (3555 Monroe St.), tucked away inside Monticello Village. The 24,000 square ft. store opened on Jan. 10. Inside are aisles carrying neatly arranged products, a produce area with fresh fruits and vegetables, a sandwich station, a bakery, and endless meal options for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the prepared foods section. Ready-made sushi, salmon, tri-tip, meatloaf, hummus, mac & cheese, fried chicken, grilled vegetables and fresh greens are among the many items shoppers can pick up ready to eat.
“This is Nob Hill Foods’ first mixed-use store, where we have residents renting apartment homes on the top floors of the store and the retail store on the lower level,” said Chelsea Minor, Director of Public Relations and Public Affairs for Raley’s, the parent company of Nob Hill Foods. “We are excited to partner with the Irvine Company to bring this project to life. Our hope is to do a grand opening celebration weekend with food samplings, vendor giveaways, etc. to happen sometime over the next 60 days.”
Minor explained that Nob Hill Foods has been on a brand evolution for the last few years to focus on health and wellness and moving its stores in a direction where product offerings are minimally processed.
“We offer organic food and produce,” Minor said. “The meat varies based on the brands. We have organic non-GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) pork out of our American Homestead program. We have different brands that meet different qualifications.”
Minor explained one way that Nob Hill Foods is helping to maintain environmental ecosystems for future generations.
“Our sustainable seafood program is 100 percent sustainable, meaning that for every item we take out of the ocean to sell, we put one thing back in,” she said.
The store provides a shelf program that gives nutritional information. This shelf guide offers codes. For example, ‘O’ means Organic, ‘V’ means Vegan, ‘GF’ means Gluten Free and ‘S’ means No Added Sugar. These codes are found on the product’s shelf labels so customers can quickly identify products they are looking for.
“Understanding the neighborhood and community, this particular store features a lot of grab-and-go items, such as Raley’s ready-to-go meals in entree sizes and family sizes, sandwiches, a full food service department with people who custom cut meats, a full salad bar and a hot bar,” Minor said. “Our hope is that in an environment where many people are busy, we offer an environment that you want to come to. There’s a sitting area for you to enjoy your meal, beer and wine on tap and a Peet’s Coffee bar for those who want to linger for awhile.”
Ebony Gaines, the Customer Service Team Lead of Santa Clara’s Nob Hill Foods, has been with the company for 10 years.
“I really love the Santa Clara community,” Gaines said. “People have really embraced the new store. It feels very homey here.”