Raley’s expands employee development programs

The Raley’s Cos. said it has expanded its employee development training programs to its Bashas’ network of supermarkets.

The company said 14 of the first 22 Bashas’ employees in the Store Team Leader training program have already been promoted. Many of the employees in the program were first-generation Americans who joined the company in entry-level positions.

“I think we’re going to continue to see that grow,” Ashley Shick, director of communication and public affairs at Bashas’, told Supermarket News. “We’ve had nothing but excellent response and enthusiasm for the leadership program.”

Raley’s described the expansion of the leadership program in its 2022-2023 Impact Report, which it published this week. The report noted that more than 1,100 Raley’s employees have completed at least one of its leadership programs, including 220 who did so last year. The company said it invested $475,000 in leadership programs throughout 2022 and 2023.

The leadership training programs, which were developed in-house, focus on cultivating management skills to help employees grow their careers, said Chelsea Carbahal, VP of community impact and public affairs for The Raley’s Cos. The training programs at Bashas’ were specifically tailored to the operations at that division, she said.

“We’ve invested in the Bashas’ team significantly since our acquisition,” she said.

In addition to the leadership development programs, Raley’s also offers other educational and training opportunities, including the Food Industry Management and Retail Management Certificate Programs.

The Raley’s and Bashas’ divisions were also able to expand their investments in their communities and the charities they support by working together, Carbahal and Shick said. For example, Raley’s expanded its Holiday Hope Drive, in which it collects donations for food banks in California and Nevada during December, to the Bashas’ division, which operates in Arizona and New Mexico. In addition, Raley’s for the first time participated in a Salvation Army program to distribute gifts to needy children that Bashas’ had long supported.

Among other highlights from Raley’s 2022-2023 Impact Report: