Mar-Val

They seem to always have everything I need. The cashiers are always friendly and they even have a pharmacy. We live in Colfax and the next biggest store is in Auburn, so we probably shop here once a week or so. I bet they get a lot of campers and people resupplying during the summer.

Great market! Kind of pricey, but love it! But we only use it when we come to our cabin for the weekend. Friendly staff!

Convenient as it is the only grocery store in colfax. But annoying that they get their prices wrong all the time. Advertised prices often mislabeled. Prices on shelves often mislabeled. Slow deli staff. Decent selection of food.

Things change, and Sierra Market’s sale to the new ownership under Mar-​Val is one of them. I’ve gone to their location in Valley Springs a lot during summer trips. While it’s a bit sad to see Sierra Market’s ownership retire and sell, I believe they found the best ‘old school’ grocery family to take over, hence Mardee Kidd and Val Kidd, the namesake of the Mar-​Val Food Stores.
The bakery is the same, and a few new things there too. Their deli and sandwiches are pretty much the same, with some new custom salads like the Edamame bean, corn, black bean & cous-​cous cold side salad. Pretty fancy and decently priced compared to a Safeway or Raley’s.
The meat department is what I’ve come to expect from a Mar-​Val, with high quality cuts and some custom packaged ones, such as their tumble-​marinated and vacuumed packed steak cuts. They even have pre-​wrapped, ready to go things like pork loin roasts and chicken breasts, no need to wait for a butcher if you’re busy.
And the produce department is clean, neat, and somewhat charmed with small touches of a personal nature. Nothing was out of place, old, or not fit to sell. Opposite that, a wall of sauces and things that might boggle your mind, like a sun-​dried tomato ketchup! Good stuff.
They still have a good pharmacy section, which looked like they were upgrading at the time I went. And they still have some of the little things like a great selection of the custom bottled sauces and spices, and even nuts. All in all, consider it the same place to go to find a great selection of local made items as well as expected national brand items. Kudos to Mar-​Val for taking the reigns of a locally historic grocery store, and putting your own family touches on it.
Just a note, but the negative comments here seem to be incredibly biased opinions, such as calling any potential customer a flatlander or camper. Also, their prices are really competitive for the high quality of products they carry, and EVERYONE will shop around the the lowest price on something. Most people don’t understand how and why grocery stores exist in this day. The Mar-​Val family did Colfax an incredible good deed by saving one of the last store stops along the way to Truckee, Tahoe and Reno, and they’re helping Colfax by bringing in local tax revenue as well. They’re even out of the way, so they wouldn’t get a lot of drive-​by traffic for gamblers or Tahoe-​bound people mostly. You would have to go off the beaten path to find them, which is what people who are looking for a good store with good products and prices will do.

There are two grocery stores in Colfax listed on Unilocal and that you’ll drive by as a last stop on your way to Tahoe. One is a very small 7 – 11 type store and this one is more like a grocery store. It’s small but it had everything we needed, including bakery items, dairy, meats, organic veggies and fruits, etc. I will remember this for next time.

If buying more than 20 bucks worth of anything do not shop here. The prices of meat today were insane and this may be the last time I ever purchase anything here. The staff are cool people and they have a pharmacy there is no other reason to shop here even the sandwiches went downhill… so other than to get price gouged in between occasional «sales» prices which are your average Safeway prices there’s no reason to shop here. I am pretty bummed I used to love supporting this place.

Fair selection of groceries at seriously high prices. The deli and pharmacy are the only departments to visit. This store has clearly driven their prices for groceries for the flat landers who are on their way up to Tahoe or the campers at Rollins Lake. We locals go to Auburn for the weekly grocery haul. Too bad because this used to be a nice store.