Bashas':

• Employs more than 14,000 Arizona residents, making Bashas' the eighth-largest employer in the state, according to The Arizona Republic.  Bashas' hires its members from the neighborhoods it serves.
  
  
• Bashas' is one of the "Best Places to Work," in the state according to The Phoenix Business Journal and an independent human resources rating firm.
  
  
• Provides quality jobs in all formats - Bashas',  Food City, A.J.'s and Bashas' Diné Markets – on a pay scale equal to or better than what union-represented employees make in Arizona.  Bashas' has one of the lowest employee turnover rates in the grocery industry; many members spend their entire career working for the company.
  
  
• Instituted a Pension Plan in the 1970s, when few other retail stores in Arizona provided pension plans for their workers – even retail stores whose employees were represented by the UFCW.  This pension plan is FULLY FUNDED.
  
  
• Provides health care plans with no premium as well as a plan with a modest premium, in addition to a comprehensive benefit package, to its members.

Bashas' strengthens Arizona communities by:

• A GIVING BACK PHILOSOPHY – Giving millions of dollars every year to Arizona charities through corporate donations, volunteerism and fundraising support.
  
  
• 75 YEARS OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT– Inspiring communities through events that celebrate family, arts and culture such as Cinco de Mayo, Fiesta Patrias, Copa Food City, and gives back to local non-profit organizations including St. Vincent De Paul, St. Mary's/Westside Food Bank Alliance, Association of Arizona Food Banks, César Chávez Foundation, and El Rio, to name a few.
  
  
• A LONGSTANDING COMMITMENT TO EDUCATION, HEALTH AND CHILD SAFETY INITIATIVES – Offering programs such as Register Tapes for Education, A Su Salud, Ninos Seguros, and Thanks a Million, supports Navajo Nation Education Fund, Valle del Sol, Juvenile Diabetes Walk, Friendly House, Children's Cancer Center at Phoenix Children's Hospital, Ronald McDonald House of Southern Arizona, Chicanos por la Causa, and Child Crisis Center of the East Valley.
  

MORE SPECIFICALLY – HERE ARE A FEW OF THE COMMUNITY PROJECTS BASHAS' CREATED OR GENEROUSLY SUPPORTS IN THE HISPANIC COMMUNITY:

Register Tapes For Education (RTE)

• Food City's program that provides schools the opportunity to obtain free academic equipment when buying at Food City.
  
  
• The program is statewide and has been communicated to the General Market and Spanish media through news releases and fact sheets.

Tamale Festival –

• 6th Annual Food City (2006) Festival had 40,000 in attendance.
  
  
• Portion of proceeds go back to support Faith-Based community.
  
  
• Local Mariachi Bands, Dance Groups, and Musical Acts.

¡A Su Salud! Program

• Food City partnered with the Phoenix Fire Department Kids Immunization Program, Radio Campesina and Prensa Hispana to promote free "Back to School Immunizations" and more.
  
  
• Food City Immunizations - program ensures online lifetime shot histories that any school district, daycare or healthcare facility can look up electronically.
  
  
• Food City Bone Marrow drives.
  
• Car Seat Safety checks.

Copa Food City

• 5th Annual Copa Food City (2006) Soccer Tournament had 40,000 + in attendance.  90 + Teams participated.

Regalos de Esperanza (Gifts of Hope)

• Food basket give-away in collaboration with Univision in Food City neighborhoods.

Niños Seguros, Seguro Que Sí, which translates to Safe Kids, Sure Thing

• A public service campaign, created in 2003, to educate the Hispanic community about water safety through:
  
  
• Public Service Announcements
  
  
• Television
  
• Radio Monthly
  
  
• Food City Events
  
  
• Valley Fire Departments Partnerships

Consulado Móvil

• This program brings the services of the Mexican Consulado's office to Food City neighborhoods.

Food City sponsored fiestas embrace and celebrate the Hispanic culture and reflect the importance of the Hispanic heritage:

• 13th Annual Food City Cinco de Mayo Phoenix Festival (2007) had over 225,000 in attendance.
  
  
• 6th Annual Food City Fiestas Patrias Festival (2006):  Only such event FREE to the public with over 125,000 in attendance.

Other Hispanic Community Event support/participation:

• Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) Golf  Tournament
  
  
• Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (AZHCC) Black & White Ball
  
  
• CPLC Annual Children's Christmas Party
  
  
• Tucson CPLC Annual Dinner
  
  
• Hispanic Business Student Association Annual Awards Dinner
  
  
• AZHCC Datos Breakfast
  
  
• César Chávez Foundation Annual Luncheon
  
• Friendly House Tamale Dinner
  
  
• Friendly House Golf  Tournament Friendly House Noche de Vino
  
  
• Valle Del Sol Profiles of Success Luncheon
  
  
• CPLC Esperanza Awards
  
  
• Si Se Puede Día de Guadalupe Walk
  
  
• CPLC Christmas in "El Barrio"
  
  
• Hispanic Women's Conference

COMMITMENT SHOWN — THE FOOD CITY STORY:

Perhaps nothing better demonstrates Bashas' commitment to its people and the communities they serve than the story of how Food City came into Bashas' Family of Stores, and how it grew.  The original Food City store, located at 16th Street and Mojave in Phoenix, was an independent neighborhood grocery store, established in the 1940s.

In 1994, the owner of this store approached Bashas' about purchasing the store, as he wanted to retire and specifically wanted to sell to a family-operated company.

When Bashas' purchased this store, it kept every member.  But it also offered better health and welfare benefits to them and -- for the first time -- created the opportunity for these members to participate in a pension plan so they could provide for themselves and their families upon retirement.

Bashas' expanded the Food City format to meet the needs of a changing Arizona.  This included converting stores in neighborhoods that demonstrated a need for a store like Food City. Bashas' also expanded the Food City format by acquiring older and smaller supermarkets that would have otherwise been forced to close.  Bashas' purchased stores from Mega Foods and Southwest Supermarkets, which were both in bankruptcy.  Bashas' also purchased stores from ABCO.  Hundreds of employees would have lost their jobs if it were not for Bashas' willingness to buy the troubled stores and keep these Arizona residents employed.

As one member wrote:

[When] I was 16 years old I joined the Union. . . In the summer of 2001,  ABCO was closing.  I was nervous -- my 4 year old son was having problems with his eyesight.  He had one operation and was facing more surgery.  I was told that our store, ABCO's Rancho Vistoso 125, was closing.  I had an opportunity at this time to get a job with Safeway which bought a lot of ABCO stores that closed.  The pay would be $3.00 less an hour, medical benefits would kick in after 8 months and you would lose your seniority.  I prayed for my job.  About this time, Bashas' was interested in buying the ABCO Store #125 location.

Bashas' bought our store.  Our seniority pay, vacation and insurance were kept intact when Bashas' took over.  My son has had to have 3 more eye operations.

If we have a problem our store director's door is always open and so is the door of the company's president.  Bashas' has always been great to me.

Letter from Manuel L. Barredo.  Where was the union when Mr. Barredo needed it when the ABCO was sold?  It was more interested in him moving to Safeway where it would keep his dues yet he would be paid less.  Instead, he joined Bashas' where he would have the pay and benefits needed to take care of his family. 

Saving these stores and the jobs of these employees also helped the communities serviced by the stores – and not merely by continuing to provide groceries and other retail products and services.  Many of Bashas' current managers were clerks, cashiers, and meat cutters when they joined Bashas' through these acquisitions.  They went from wondering if they would have a paycheck every week to flourishing at Bashas'.

• Had the stores closed, many small businesses operating in the same retail shopping centers would have been devastated by the loss of anchor tenants and the resulting appearance of a deteriorating retail center.
  
  
• Many of these stores were located in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, where other retailers have refused to open outlets. 
  

Bashas' took a risk by making such a commitment to these communities.  Bashas' did not limit its risk to the initial investment it made to purchase these stores.  Rather, it invested more in renovating and improving many of the stores that were in poor condition.  Since acquiring stores from Southwest Supermarkets and Mega Foods, Bashas' has spent more than $70 million in renovations.  More renovations are planned.