Project MANA - A Hunger Relief Agency

North Lake Tahoe Bonanza:  The owner of the Village Market has a passion for wine and enjoys the lifestyle of this community.  Located in the center of the village and right next door to the post office is Incline's locally owned market, the Village Market. Owner Ron Stanger, has been an Incline resident and involved in the Village Market for 28 years. He said: "This is not an easy spot for the tourists to find, especially in the winter." But locals do find the market as it is located in one of the most familiar gathering areas in Incline for residents.

Stanger was born in one of the larger cities in Northern California, San Jose. He grew up and attended school in Cupertino, California another city located within Silicon Valley but a much more suburban community. It is also a community with a reputation for having public schools that offer a high quality education. After high school Stanger said he attended college at the University of California, Berkeley where he graduated with a teaching certificate in science. He said he quickly learned after a couple of years as a teacher that this was just not the profession for him. He said: "I was just interested in doing other things."

Stanger then moved from California to another large city located in the Northwest, Portland, Oregon. Because he had family as well as some friends living in Portland, he decided to also try the area. Here, he found work as a sales representative for chemicals. " "Portland, offered an interesting life style and I was impressed with the city. It's a wonderful city," he said.

However, in 1980 Stanger decided to move to Incline Village. He was coming here primarily to help his family run their new business, the Village Market. They had purchased the store in 1979. "I am not sure I really intended to stay here this long." But like most residents of Incline, the area provided Stanger with such a great lifestyle that he stayed. "I fell in love with the lifestyle here and the community."

After living and working here for about seven years Stanger decided to settle into the community and buy a home. During this time he worked in all of the different departments of the market from produce to buying the wines. It was also at this time that a mutual friend introduced him to his wife Patti, a native of Reno. They were married in Incline shortly after he purchased his home. "I continued to work as an employee at the Village Market until 2002 when my stepfather was ready to retire." Stanger said he now decided he wanted to go into the business and was able to get the financing arrangements in order to buy the Village Market from his family.

He also was involved at the beginning in the formation of Project MANA. "I was on the founding board of Project MANA. It was a good fit and I was on the board for several years."

Since purchasing the market in 2002 Stanger has not made any major changes to the store. Instead he has just continued to work on what he feels is the most important feature of the market. He said, "We are more about service. I don't want to see people waiting in line to check out." Stanger knows that like other businesses in Incline it is not easy to own a business in Incline. "Having a small business certainly has its challenges but the community is supportive." And because the market is not in an area where tourists immediately see it, Stanger said he does depend on the locals. But was quick to add: "Nobody owes you anything just because you are a part of this community." So that is why Stanger wants to provide something that the larger stores have a difficult time doing. He feels that the Village Market needs to provide customers with what they want and good service. "You need to have what they want.

"We need to be able to respond to the customers needs. If somebody requests something special almost always we are able to order and get it for the customer. It doesn't have to be approved at the corporate level," Stanger said.

So gradually through the years Stanger said the market has changed or expanded to meet the needs of the customers. This has included adding some gourmet and specialty foods. And Stanger said that now with the trend for a healthier lifestyle people are eating healthier and so natural and organic foods are another area that they have available. Since the early 1990s the organic food industry has had growth rates of around 20 percent a year. This is far more than the rest of the food industry. The problem however has been that the prices for organic foods continue to be higher but still the organic food industry continues to grow throughout the entire world.

"Wines are my passion. I enjoy wines and learning about them. I have always done the ordering of the wines for the store," Stanger said.

And as most wine lovers know, there is really a terminology or lingo needed to describe the flavors, aromas and even the appearance of the many wines.

Stanger said that his love for wines has helped him learn and that instead of just taking some courses and seminars he has learned more by experience. "As I learn more and as customers request different wines, we continue to explore," Stanger said about his wine selections.

He also said that he has now developed an entire network of people that share the same passion.

Through this network friendships have developed and they go out to dinner and have tastings. Stanger said this is how you learn, by sharing wines with others that have the same passion.

He said that even though he has been to several wineries he actually has been able to learn more by working with the representatives that bring their wines to the store.

He said, "Sometimes I have had to taste 20 or 30 wines in a day in order to purchase selections." Stanger also said he keeps notes about the wines.

Stanger said that one of the small family owned wineries on the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas that he has learned about is the Karly Winery. This small winery has a reputation for quality and promises never to compromise their quality for volume.

Because Stanger enjoys this winery so much, the beautiful yellow lab owned by the Stanger's is named Karly. Or as Stanger explained, "Karly Ð The princess."

Stanger said that he loves to take Karly to Ski Beach where all of the other dogs are allowed to go during the winter months. And in the summer Karly will go hiking to the beaches that allow dogs or to other areas like Marlette Lake.

One of the most interesting features of the Village Market is that right inside the market are a couple of other locally owned businesses.

These areas in many other larger grocery stores are just another department but at the Village Market the areas are leased out. Stanger said that the meat market has always been leased.

"The owners work hard to do a good job. It would be hard to hire an employee to have that level of commitment. They put their heart and soul into the department," he said.

And now a new coffee area is just opening in another part of the Village Market. Stanger said, "This will be leased as well. It was a space that was not being utilized." Stanger also said that he thought people in Incline would appreciate an alternative for bagels, breakfast sandwiches and coffee being offered in another part of the village.

During the 28 years as a resident of Incline Stanger has found the community a perfect fit for his life style. Stanger and his wife are avid golfers and in the winter they love to ski. Although Stanger did admit that he was not into skiing during storms, just on bright sunny days! And even though his parents have now moved away from Incline, they are also still in the area. "This is a neat community," he said. "Some people lose sight of what we have here with day-to-day problems of life and forget to enjoy what we have. I think that it is important to take time to take it all in and look at the lake and enjoy."