Rudy Dory, president of Newport Ave. Market, grew up in the grocery business. His folks owned a small mom-and-pop operation in a little town called Maxwell, Calif. Dory’s first job was sorting bottles for his father.

After serving in the Navy, Dory moved to Eugene in 1968 from California and started working for Albertsons, one of the nation’s largest retail food and drug chains. He moved up the management ladder and learned the business well enough to launch his own store.

In December 1976, he opened his first grocery store in La Pine and sold it in 1995. It is now a Ray’s Food Place. Then Dory came into management at Newport Ave. Market, which was under a different name at the time, in 1983. Two years later, he bought it with a partner. He took over the business independently in 1991 and renamed the store Newport Ave. Market.

How does Newport Ave. Market distinguish itself from other markets on Bend’s west side? What’s your niche?

Our niche is that we are a specialty food store. As an example, you can buy beef everywhere. Every supermarket in Bend sells beef. We sell Oregon Country Beef. We’re the only place in Central Oregon that you can buy Oregon Country Beef at a grocery store.

Oregon Country Beef is basically a free range beef. Other than their baby shots, which are required by law, there’s no hormone injections. So it’s more of a natural product.

Where do your customers come from?

Our customers actually come from all over. Obviously, mostly from the west side, but we have a lot of regulars from Sunriver, Sisters and Black Butte Ranch.

Have you found doing business in Central Oregon favorable?

We’ve been very successful or been able to survive. Central Oregon is like anywhere else. There’s a lot of competition and you have to figure out who you are and pursue it.

Where do you buy your produce, wines and specialty foods?

We get our produce out of Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington. We get our specialty foods out of Auburn, Calif., and Auburn, Wash. We get beer and wine from local distributors.

Did you have any trouble getting supplies during the longshoremen lockout?

No. We had a lot of our inventory prior to the holiday season. We get our stuff earlier than most people, and we have to store it until we use it.

What trends have you observed in the industry in 2002 and 2001?

What we have seen is that people are more cost conscious. A lot of consumers are more conscious of sales items.

The industry in general has seen deflation, meaning that we’re selling goods for less than we did a year or two ago. That’s especially true with the major players: the Safeways, Krogers and Fred Meyers.

Consumer eating habits tracked by NPD Foodworld show Americans want someone else to do the cooking.

How has your prepared-foods department done? Have you expanded its menu?

That’s probably been a trend for the last four or five years. Our menu is growing all the time. Statistically, about 90 percent of people do not know what they’re going to have for dinner at 4 in the afternoon.

A Safeway store is under construction now and plans to open in mid- to late April. How will it affect the growth rate of your independent business?

Hopefully it won’t. If you want to put it in perspective, that Safeway is only two-tenths of a mile closer than the Safeway on Franklin Avenue. So the consumer has had very easy access to a Safeway.

Safeway doesn’t do what we do, and we don’t do what Safeway does. They’re a multi-billion dollar company, so they’ve got buying power and can price goods a whole lot differently. But we have a lot more flexibility to respond to market conditions faster.

One of the growing trends across the country is for grocery stores to open their own in-house restaurants. Do you have any plans for expansion or growth?

No, I doubt very seriously we will have an in-store restaurant. I’m still paying for my store in Awbrey Butte that didn’t make it.

What happened to Rudy’s Awbrey Butte Market?

It was only open for seven months, and then we had to close it because there wasn’t enough business. We opened it in July 2000 and closed it in February 2001. It was in a 19,100 square-foot leased space, and I lost well over $2 million on that venture.

Has Newport Ave. Market been affected by the weak economy?

No, we’ve managed to eke out a sales growth. I am up over 5 percent in 2002 from 2001.

What is the pay scale for your employees?

The range is 15 cents above minimum wage to the store manager, who will receive $60,000 plus.

Monica Lee can be reached at mlee@bendbulletin.com.