Galt shoppers finally get a discount grocer of their own on Thursday, when Grocery Outlet opens its first store in the city at 10570 Twin Cities Road, inside a building that spent nearly two years empty after Rite Aid went bankrupt. Doors open at 7 a.m., and the first 100 customers in line will receive in-store gift cards worth random values up to $500, according to a news release. Every first-arrival customer also gets a reusable gift bag, and one lucky early shopper will be able to win $1,000 in free groceries.
The new store fills a 17,340-square-foot storefront that had sat dark since Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2023, according to the Galt Herald. Before construction could begin, the City of Galt Community Development Department had to process a Conditional Use Permit for the address, a step required under municipal code before any grocery store in a Commercial zone can sell beer, wine, or spirits for off-site consumption, according to the City of Galt. As The Sacramento Bee reports, the Galt location will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. once its grand-opening festivities wrap up.
A Local Owner With Grocery Outlet Roots
The Galt store is owned by Nick Nguyen, who previously ran the Grocery Outlet in Fairfield before taking on this location, per the Bee's reporting. Nguyen said the store will help the Galt community and wants to be a good partner to all its members, adding that he hopes the location will add more variety to regional businesses. That local-ownership structure is central to how Grocery Outlet operates nationwide: corporate headquarters in Emeryville handles bulk sourcing and real estate leases, while independent operators like Nguyen manage daily operations, staffing, and community ties, and share directly in store profits, according to Umbrex.
As part of its opening, the Galt store will donate $1,000 to the Sunshine Food Pantry in Galt, per the Bee. Grocery Outlet's business model relies on purchasing excess products from manufacturers, including overstocked and discontinued items and general inventory surplus, which allows it to sell groceries at a discount compared to conventional supermarkets.
Filling a Gap for South County Shoppers
Before Thursday, the closest Grocery Outlet stores for South Sacramento County residents were roughly 10 to 15 miles away in Elk Grove on Bond Road and in Lodi on South Cherokee Lane, according to the Galt Herald. The new store sits in the Carillion Corners retail center along Twin Cities Road, a busy commercial corridor connecting Delta communities to foothill towns, directly next to Dollar Tree, Anytime Fitness, and Taco Bell, and within 0.1 miles of competing grocers Raley's and Walmart.
Galt is a city of nearly 26,000 residents, with roughly 45.3% identifying as Hispanic/Latino and 45.9% as white, a demographic profile shaped by the area's agricultural economy and comparatively affordable housing, according to Sacramento Movers. In the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District, about 55% of enrolled families qualify for free or reduced-price school meals, according to the district, underscoring the demand for budget-friendly food options in the area.
Part of a Bigger Sacramento-Area Push
The Galt opening brings Grocery Outlet's Sacramento-area footprint to 20 stores, per the Bee's reporting, including existing locations at 845 Harbor Blvd. in West Sacramento, 1800 E 8th St. in Davis, 1630 W El Camino Ave. in South Natomas, 1700 Capitol Ave. in Midtown Sacramento, and 2308 Del Paso Blvd. in North Sacramento. Companywide, Grocery Outlet now operates more than 500 stores nationwide, and the chain has been actively repurposing shuttered pharmacy real estate across Northern California, evaluating at least a dozen former Rite Aid sites in the Sacramento region alone, including locations in Placerville and Citrus Heights, per the Galt Herald.
The expansion comes as the company posts strong financial numbers. Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. reported $4.69 billion in net sales for fiscal year 2025, a 7.3% year-over-year increase, and followed that with $1.19 billion in net sales during the second quarter of fiscal 2026, supported by rising customer foot traffic even as individual basket sizes shrank, according to Grocery Dive.
Galt's opening also fits a wider pattern Hoodline has tracked across the region, from a similar Rite Aid conversion in Silverton to Grocery Outlet's move into a former Walgreens corner in Oakland's Eastlake neighborhood. Meanwhile, other Sacramento County commercial centers are still waiting on their own anchor tenants to materialize, including the H Mart planned for South Sacramento, whose opening date remains unannounced.
