New Market Brings Fresh Options to Gila River Indian Community
For years, residents of the Gila River Indian Community have had to journey up to 30 minutes to neighboring cities like Maricopa or Casa Grande to access full-service grocery stores. However, the recent opening of the Sacaton Market marks a significant change, providing a much-needed local option.
Duncan Winston, general manager of Gila River Development, emphasized the importance of this new venture, stating, “This isn’t a Bashas. It’s not a Safeway or a Walmart. We don’t have hundreds of stores that we can leverage to offer the same price point they can.”
The Sacaton Market is more than just a place to shop for groceries. It represents a decade-long effort to establish a supermarket that is owned by the community itself, a rarity among tribal groups. Located in the tribal capital south of Phoenix, the 14,000-square-foot store underscores the community’s autonomy and ability to provide for its own needs.
Winston further explained, “We don’t want to leave that in the hands of a larger chain to determine who gets what. We want to be able to fight for ourselves and bring the necessary goods to our community when we need them.”
The market offers a wide variety of products, including a fresh produce section, a butcher counter, and a deli featuring local specialties. The much-anticipated return of the ‘works burger,’ a community favorite, highlights the store’s commitment to local tastes. Winston noted, “One of the biggest demands from the community was, ‘You got to bring the works back.’ And so we’ve done that, maybe not exactly how it was done in the past, but we’ve done our own iteration of it – a handmade beef patty, and the buns are made in-house with love and care.”
Despite the excitement surrounding the opening, challenges such as ‘rez-flation’ remain. Winston remarked, “We have experienced it here. I mean, it’s difficult finding reputable vendors who are willing to bring us goods and services at a fair price. Although we are rural, we are a lot closer to the metropolitan Phoenix area than a lot of the other tribes in Arizona.”
