Gorge Local - In Business: The Dalles native Cody Miller is Grocery Outlet new owner

“When I was with Safeway, I moved around quite a bit,” Miller said. “Baker City, Hood River, Portland and Gresham. Then I came back as the store manager at The Dalles Safeway, that was back in 2016.”

As great as it was to come back and be in The Dalles, Miller found himself pulled away again a few years later — but this time not at Safeway. Instead, he ended up owning the Grocery Outlet in Baker City. In fact, he was the founder of it.

“The one in Baker City is all brand new,” he said. “So I feel like I’m a little bit spoiled in that way.”

After two and a half years at Baker City, Miller learned the Grocery Outlet in The Dalles was looking to sell, and he couldn’t help but shoot his shot. He loved Grocery Outlet, and he loved The Dalles, and he was looking forward to coming home.

“It’s kind of a dream come true for me, just because I was born and raised in The Dalles and lived here most of my life, really only left town for work,” Miller said.

There was a bit of a learning curve, even coming from a Grocery Outlet, Miller said. Because the stores are independently owned, despite being part of a chain, they’re all different. It was different coming to an already established store than creating his own from the ground up.

“I would say it’s a little bit different going into a store that’s existing, rather than starting it from scratch,” he said. “Meeting the employees, saying ‘Hey, these are my expectations’ in the beginning and then going and meeting with staff that’s been established here for years. That was a little bit of a challenge, but things have really smoothed out.”

Miller said he has a unique way of running a Grocery Outlet, using some of the things he learned from his time at Safeway.

“How I lay out my store, how we organize, and how we kind of set the daily routines,” he said. “I used some of the guidelines for how Safeway did it and just kind of made it my own here.”

Though this Grocery Outlet is different from the one he was used to, Miller said he’s proud to make it his own, especially in his hometown. He said it’s been great to be back and that he’s already trying to get re-involved with the community.

Miller has already joined the Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club, he said. He also likes to focus on giving to local school districts or food banks. Grocery Outlet raised nearly $3,000 for the St. Vincent De Paul Food Bank a few months ago, he said.

“My goal is just to really give back to my town,” he said. “I still think of it as my town. Any way I can do that, whether it’s little bits here and there or fundraisers, donations that we’ve got going on in town … I just love the fact that I’m back home and able to give back not just through [fundraising and donations], but then to give back to my community by trying to keep prices low and respectable.”

Grocery Outlet is located at 1300 W. Sixth St. in The Dalles. It is open every day from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.