Perhaps it’s the family name – Mercado – that made Vito Mercado destined for the career he began during his senior year at Gilroy High School.
Or maybe it’s the fact that both his grandfather Carlos and father Javier, as well as countless other relatives worked for the same boss, Nob Hill Foods founder Michael Bonfante.
Certainly it’s the very welcoming, humble demeanor – not to mention the dashing good looks and charm – that allowed the now 52-year-old store manager of Raley’s Nob Hill Supermarket on First Street in Gilroy to rise through the ranks.
“My last name’s Mercado, so it was kind of my destiny to work in a grocery store. Super mercado!” said the native Gilroyan, who began as a Nob Hill courtesy clerk in August of 1979.
“I like being in the store. I grew up here, so I know the people,” Mercado said. “I know the town. A lot of the customers are my friends.”
Mercado, who lives in Gilroy with his wife of nearly 30 years, Debbie, has built a reputation that means a whole lot more than the English translation of his last name. In 2014, Mercado was named to one of the highest honors for any Garlic City citizen: President of the 36th Annual Gilroy Garlic Festival.
“What’s neat about it is you are the leader of about 4,000 volunteers,” said Mercado, who, just like his long-term commitment to Nob Hill Foods, put in his time at the festival, where he started volunteering when his daughters, Marisa, now 25, and Monica, 23, were in grade school.
“He’s very easygoing,” said Director Brian Bowe from the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association. “He really is well-known, well-liked and well-respected in the community. It’s great to have someone like that running the festival.”
Born in the Garlic Capital, Mercado’s family moved back to their native Guadalajara, Mexico when he was 8 years old. However, they returned to Gilroy 10 years later. At 18, Mercado said he could’ve just pursued a general education diploma at Gavilan College, but it meant more to him to earn a diploma from Gilroy High School.
While working toward that end – graduating as part of the GHS class of 1980 – Mercado bagged groceries and anything else he was asked to do as a Nob Hill Foods courtesy clerk.
“I thought about college, but at that time Nob Hill was really growing. They were opening a lot of stores, so there was a lot of opportunity,” explained Mercado, who steadily earned promotion after promotion within the company.
By 1982, Mercado was already a manager, named head of the produce department, where he was in charge of staffing, ordering, stocking and maintaining a fresh look at the store. With a job well done and only three years later, Mercado was promoted to supervisor in charge of six other produce departments at different Nob Hill locations.
“It allowed me to expand my skills. Now, I was working with different teams. That was a nice challenge,” Mercado said. “At that point, I wanted to run my own store.”
A couple of years later, he was given that opportunity as head clerk of the old Nob Hill on Westwood Drive in Gilroy, where “I got an education on the grocery store side of the business,” Mercado explained. After learning even more with the night crew, the ambitious worker climbed the ladder again, selected as manager of a Nob Hill store in South San Jose in 1990.
“Serving customers was something I enjoyed doing, and I just kept at it,” said the loyal employee of his career path that soon had him managing not one but five Nob Hill stores. “Nob Hill’s given me everything I’ve had. I’m very thankful to have this job.”
Mercado has been a Nob Hill staple, staying with the supermarket through the ownership change from Bonfante, who took him under his wing early in his career, to Raley’s, a grocery chain started by Thomas P. Raley in 1935 and currently run by Joyce Raley Teel.
“Raley’s Nob Hill, we are all about community. We sponsor so many different events and help in so many ways,” said Mercado, gladly reciting the Raley’s motto: “Try to infuse life with health and happiness.”
Full of happiness himself while sitting in the cafe area of the current Gilroy location on one particular Thursday morning, Mercado catches the eye of one elderly customer who stops by two different times to ask how some of his family members are doing.
“It’s the people. Being in the grocery store is all about relationships and developing trust. If the customers trust you, then you’re good,” Mercado said. “That’s what I like most about my job – interacting with the community.”
At the same spot, Mercado regularly enjoys a weekly cup of coffee with his former boss, Bonfante, who he’s known for “practically my whole life.”
“He keeps me focused. I’ve been very blessed. He took me under his wing,” shared Mercado. “I cherish my moments with him. He’s a remarkable man.”
