Editor’s note: This is part one of a two-part series about Sacramento resident Mannie Viera.

At 88 years old, Sacramento’s Manuel J. “Mannie” Viera, Jr. has experienced many things in his life, including growing up as the son of a railroad worker.

Dad immigrated

While sitting inside his home in Sacramento last week, Mannie spoke about his father, Portuguese immigrant Manuel J. Viera, Sr. (1892-1962).

“My dad came over (to the United States) from Faial, Portugal by himself when he was about 12 years old and he had a sign on him that (read), ‘California, Sacramento,’ and a loaf of French bread,” said Mannie. “I guess he had enough money to travel (to Sacramento) by train. When he got here, he lived on the corner of 6th and U (streets), right across from Southside Park. He never told me much about that time. All I know is that from then he went on to work at the (Southern Pacific) shops. He would go over there and work on the engines and stuff like that. And later on when I got older, I went to the work for the railroad, as well. So, I worked on Front and J (streets) and he worked over (at 4th and I streets) at the shops.”

Manuel Viera Sr. married Goldie Mae Dias (1893-1974) in about 1920. Mannie was born in San Francisco, and moved to the capital city when he was about six months old, when his parents adopted him.

Viera’s Place

Mannie said that his father was well known by many locals for his ownership of Viera’s Place, a bar at 1914 3rd St., between S and T (streets), in the Southside Park area.

He added that during that time, the Southside Park area was populated with people of different cultures.

“There were a lot of Portuguese, Italians and Slovenians who all lived right there in that area,” Mannie said. “There’s a lot of history down in that neighborhood.”

Although Mannie said that he does not know exactly when his father established the bar, he said that he believes the business was actually open and selling “beer and wine and stuff like that during the bootlegging days” of Prohibition.

Grocery bar?

Additional information regarding Mannie’s father and his bar was discovered during research for this article.

The 1921 city directory, for instance, shows that Manuel J. Viera, Sr. was already associated with 1914 3rd St. at the time, but was then operating a grocery store at that address.

However, it is possible that the grocery store was then doubling as a bar, despite the fact that Prohibition had already gone into effect.

Mannie said that his father closed the bar in 1923 due to the risks of running an alcohol vending business during Prohibition.

Following the repeal of Prohibition, Mannie’s father reopened the bar on April 14, 1933.

From senators to goats

Included among the clientele of Viera’s Place were Senator Earl Desmond, who served in the Legislature from 1933 to 1958, and other senators and assemblymen.

Mannie said that one of the more unusual customers at his father’s bar was a goat.

“This customer of my dad’s, he used to come in after work and have a beer and he’d bring his goat into the bar,” Mannie said. “And my dad said, ‘What about your goat? Do you want to buy him a drink or do you want to be a cheapskate?’ And (the customer) said, ‘Why? Do you want to feed him a beer?’ So, my dad got a bottle of beer and the goat came up on the bar and my dad had a beer bottle opener, of course, and he put (the bottle) in the mouth of the goat and the goat drank the whole darn bottle of beer. So, that was a ritual every day. When the fellow came off of work, he’d stop by my dad’s bar and he’d get a bottle of beer (for the goat) along with his order.”

When asked whether the goat showed any effects from drinking beer, Mannie said, “No, he cut him off at one bottle.”

Check, please

Mannie added that the bar was also a place where people would pick up their paychecks.

“My dad owned a rooming house at (nearly) the same address (as the bar) at 1914 4th St.,” Mannie said. “A lot of their checks would go to my dad’s bar and since it was only a block away, they’d come pick up their checks.”

In addition to the barroom, Viera’s Place also included a kitchen, an office and restrooms.

Will Rogers

While looking at a vintage photograph of the inside of the bar, Mannie pointed to a picture that was hanging on the wall to the left of a clock and said, “My dad always had a picture of Will Rogers on the wall. He liked Will Rogers.”

Rogers’ popularity in Sacramento reached a higher level in 1935, when he came to the capital city for the filming of “Steamboat ’Round the Bend.”

Mannie said that he was among the people who went to the banks of the Sacramento River to view the filming of the movie.

The boxer

In addition to his previously mentioned employment, Manuel earned money by participating in boxing matches at the old L Street Arena at 223 L St.

“He would go down there and box whenever he needed some extra money,” Mannie said.

Land Park move

When Mannie was 6 years old in 1929, he moved with his parents from 430 ½ T St. to 3200 Riverside Blvd., across the street from where Vic’s Ice Cream opened 13 years later.

The Vieras property was one of four lots in the vicinity on the west side of the street.

‘Nothing but hayfields and Japanese gardens’

Mannie recalled a very rural area from his vantage point on the boulevard at that time.

“(The area) wasn’t very populated at all back then,” Mannie said. “My dad had chickens and he had rabbits and he had dogs, cats, a regular menagerie. And at that time, when we lived there, you could look from there over to where Holy Spirit Church (at 3159 Land Park Drive) is now and there was nothing but hayfields and Japanese gardens. A lot of strawberry farms were out there at that time. The Swanstons rented the land out to Japanese (strawberry) farmers. And (Sanford A.) Woodruff, the guy who had a house a block down from ours (at 3300 Riverside Blvd.), had a stable (at 2643 Riverside Blvd.), right by where the Riverside Clubhouse is now (at 2633 Riverside Blvd.). He had horses he rented out and people used to ride them out by the levee and come down by Riverside Baths (the old public swimming pool at 3640 Riverside Blvd.).”

Land Park area shoppers are quite familiar with the area’s well-established grocery store, Taylor’s Market, at 2900 Freeport Blvd. But very few of these shoppers are aware that one of the market’s meat cutters has 60 years of experience in the grocery and meat business.

Longtime Taylor’s Market shoppers know this white-haired man who works behind the meat counter every Saturday morning quite well.

After all, this man, 86-year-old Ed Schell, was part-owner of the store until about five years ago.

In recognition of the accomplishment of reaching his recent milestone in the grocery and meat business, this publication met with Ed last week to discuss his lengthy career.

Ed, who resides in the Pocket area of Sacramento, said that his career began through the assistance of his uncle, Howell Bird.

“I wanted to learn a trade, so I had an uncle who had a store (Bird’s Market) at 29th and E (streets),” Ed said. “It was a small grocery store and he taught me how to cut up a piece of meat and make a profit. That was in 1951 and in 1953, he asked me to be his partner in the store and I accepted. He kept the store until 1963 and then the (construction of the) freeway took us out.”

Ed said that had the freeway construction not caused the end of Bird’s Market, which had been open since the early 1940s, he might still be operating the store today.

But unfortunately for Bird’s Market, progress got in the way and the store was bulldozed down.

A year earlier, however, Roy Taylor, who operated a grocery store, known as Roy Taylor’s Market, at 3101 33rd St. at 6th Avenue in Oak Park, had the opportunity to relocate his store to the current Taylor’s Market site. The Freeport Boulevard building became available following the closure of a Safeway grocery store that had opened at the site in 1940.

In needing a meat cutter at his store and knowing that Ed had experience in this line of work, Taylor approached Ed about sharing the lease on the building and working at the store.

After Ed agreed to operate the meat department, the lease was established with a handshake and the store opened on Aug. 11, 1962.

Ed said that the relocation of Taylor’s grocery store was timely, considering the changing environment of Oak Park and the competition from the very successful Arata Bros. grocery store at 2732-62 34th St. in Oak Park.

In addition to replacing the Safeway store with another grocery store, Taylor’s Market was aided by some of Taylor’s former Oak Park customers who traveled to shop at his Freeport Boulevard store.

Ed said that it did not take him long to gain an appreciation for grocery shoppers from the area.

“Land Park is a great area,” Ed said. “I’ve seen people come in (to the store more than once in) the same day and they’re very loyal.”

After being established with only one meat cutter, the meat section of Taylor’s Market eventually grew to have seven meat cutters.

Ed explained that Taylor’s Market has carried a longtime tradition from its early days when it comes to the meats that it receives.

“When we started, the whole beef came in and the whole lamb and the whole pork and we’d break it down into cuts,” Ed said. “Nowadays, markets get (their meats) all broken down and ready for you to slice it. Some meat cutters today don’t even know where that piece of meat came from when they get it shipped. But Taylor’s receives its meats basically the same way as it did in its early years.”

Considering that Taylor opened the first location of his store in the late 1940s, by 1988, he decided it was time for him to retire. As a result, Taylor and Ed negotiated a sale price for the business.

In recalling the moment that he was asked if he wanted to purchase the grocery side of Taylor’s Market, Ed said, “I told (Taylor), ‘I’d be foolish not to.’”

Ed added that he knew that he would need assistance with the business, which retained the name Taylor’s Market as a tribute to Roy Taylor, who was very well respected in the grocery business and the community.

“I had this butcher (Danny Johnson) – he was a young apprentice – and he wanted to learn the business, so I showed him and he came up real fast,” Ed said. “So, (Dan) and my son (Kevin Schell) bought Roy Taylor’s business end and it was an instant hit. We remodeled the store and turned it into an upper-scale, gourmet store right away. We brought in grocery items that people wanted and we kept up the meat end of the store. That was the fixture then. People came there for meat. My son, Kevin, ran the grocery side then and Danny Johnson ran the meat department. The reason I brought in extra people to be partners with me was I knew I was going to retire pretty soon.”

Although Taylor’s Market had new owners, the building and its property remained in the ownership of Sonny Fong, who purchased the property and building from Safeway. Fong passed away in about 1990 and today, the building and property is owned by members of his family.

Despite his plan to retire, Ed said that his love for the business caused him to never completely retire.

“I just semi-retired in 1996 and I kept my interest in the store until 2007, when Kevin and I sold our interests in Taylor’s Market to Dan and Kathleen Johnson.

It was also in 1996 that Ed’s wife, Colleen, retired after 43 years as a bookkeeper, first with Bird’s Market and then with Taylor’s Market.

Taylor’s Market continues to gain new customers through its dedication to customer service, quality products and its various additions and improvements.

One of the most recent major additions at Taylor’s Market is its on-site Taylor’s Kitchen, which is a restaurant featuring a seasonal menu by Chef Richard Telford, desserts created by Le Cordon Bleu Paris-trained Pastry Chef Jodie Chavious and wines selected by wine buyer Richard Ebert.

Speaking like a proud parent, Ed said that he is continuously impressed with Dan and Kathleen’s dedication to Taylor’s Market.

“I’m proud of what they’ve done to the place,” Ed said. “The way their running the business is commendable and they’re keeping up the tradition of Taylor’s beautifully.”

For additional information regarding Taylor’s Market, call (916) 443-6881 or visit www.taylorsmarket.com. The telephone number for Taylor’s Kitchen is (916) 443-5154.

The Raley’s supermarkets chain is celebrating a very special anniversary, as this year marks 75 years since the chain’s first store opened.

Since its founder Tom Raley opened this first location on Main Street in Placerville on Feb. 16, 1935, Raley’s has grown extensively and is a rich part of Sacramento area communities.

Recognized as the state’s 11th largest private company by Forbes magazine, Raley’s owns and operates 133 stores: 85 Raley’s, 21 Bel Air Markets, 22 Nob Hill Foods supermarkets and five Food Source stores.

These stores include Raley’s stores at 4850 Freeport Blvd. in Sacramento and 5159 Fair Oaks Blvd. and 4005 Manzanita Ave. in Carmichael, and Bel Air stores at 7465 Rush River Drive and 1301 Florin Road in Sacramento.

 

 

First link in the chain

The road to Raley’s establishment is one with long roots beginning in Lead Hill (Boone County) Arkansas – Tom Raley’s birthplace.

Raised in a family of seven boys and seven girls, Tom Raley was taught to have good virtues, as the son of a Baptist minister and farmer, named Reglus Raley.

Following his high school years, Tom Raley earned a business degree from a business college in Missouri before moving to Los Angeles, where he worked for an ice and cold storage firm.

Eventually working for a Safeway grocery store in Los Angeles before transferring to a San Francisco store, Tom Raley was later offered, but declined an opportunity to serve as the district manager of San Francisco Safeway stores.

In 1934, despite being a Depression year, Tom Raley opted to instead establish his own grocery store.

In a 1972 interview with The Sacramento Bee, Tom Raley described the challenges he faced in opening his first store, which had a price tag of $9,000.

“I wanted to build a store in Placerville and I had only $120,” Tom Raley told The Bee. “I needed credit, so I listed the chairman of the board of Safeway as a reference. Suddenly everybody was willing to help me.”

Opening his Placerville store with only two assistants – a clerk and a butcher – Tom Raley experienced much success with his store, which led to his additional success in Sacramento.

His good fortunes with the Placerville store ended when it was destroyed by fire in 1942.

Less than a decade after opening his first Sacramento store, Tom Raley was at the helm of a chain of eight stores, including a store at 1700 Capitol Ave., where Compton’s and Rick’s Uptown markets were later located.

And this was definitely only the beginning of Raley’s growth, as the chain continued to expand throughout the years, making possible Tom Raley’s goal of establishing 50 stores by Raley’s 50th anniversary in 1985.

 

Starting the superstores

The aforementioned Freeport Boulevard store was established in 1958, which was the very year that Raley’s made history by opening the nation’s first grocery store-drug store combination, which was known as a superstore.

Raley’s was obviously proud of its superstores, as is indicative of an advertisement, which appeared in the Dec. 7, 1977 edition of The Sacramento Union.

“If there’s no Raley’s Superstore near you…move,” the advertisement read.

The advertisement also invited The Union’s readers to the day’s opening of the 5159 Fair Oaks Blvd., at Walnut Avenue, location in Carmichael.

The Fair Oaks Boulevard store became Raley’s 10th superstore.

Raley’s also once had a presence in East Sacramento with its former store at 2815 L St., near Sutter’s Fort.

Although it never materialized, during the late 1980s, plans were made for a 99,000-square-foot shopping center, which was to be known as Pocket Landing and anchored by a 61,000-square-foot Raley’s Supercenter at the northeast corner of Pocket Road and Greenhaven Drive.

 

Raley’s acquired Bel Air

In 1992, Raley’s acquired Bel Air Markets from the Wong family and like Raley’s, Bel Air also has a very rich history, which has left a positive impression on many people throughout the region.

The roots of the store began in the 1930s, when Chinese immigrant Gim Wong, who came to America in 1916 and eventually helped found his family’s supermarket, Bel Air, began selling produce that he grew on his 5-acre farm in Penryn, about 30 miles east of Sacramento. Assisting him with his business was his wife, Lee Shee and their children.

After establishing his produce-selling business on his farm, he eventually opened his own store in Penryn. And moving to Sacramento in the late 1940s, he opened a grocery store at 28th and P streets.

The Wong family’s establishment of their first Bel Air Market at 6231 Fruitridge Road was, according to the business’s corporate history, “still a novel concept at that time.”

The same can also be said of Raley’s during its early years as a supermarket.

Even by the early 1960s, the concept of the supermarket remained somewhat in its infancy.

In 1961, for instance, The Bee published an article that in today’s world can be considered amusing to reflect upon.

The article explains that the Department of Agriculture created a pamphlet covering the topic of “why the American housewife’s supermarket bill seems so high.”

The pamphlet responds to this inquiry, noting that “she buys better food, spends less time in the kitchen and buys cigarettes, (lipstick, toilet articles), face lotion and even clothes” at the supermarket.

Committed to its mission of offering superior products and top-notched customer service, Bel Air capitalized on its success and had expanded to a chain of six stores within its first decade.

Today, the now-much larger Bel Air chain, which was formerly led for 40 years by its president, George Wong, has stores as far east as Cameron Park and as far north as Yuba City.

Among these stores, the Arden Way store opened on Aug. 14, 1958, the Florin Road store opened on Aug. 8, 1966 and the Rush River Drive store opened on Nov. 16, 1988.

 

The local store

Other highlights in Raley’s history include the opening of its first Food Source warehouse format store in Folsom in 1994 and its purchase of the Nob Hill Foods chain in 1998.

Tom Raley passed away at the age of 88 on Dec. 27, 1991 and the company is now owned by his daughter, Joyce Raley Teel, who also serves as a co-chair of the Raley’s board of directors. Her husband, James E. Teel, is the other co-chair.

Tom Raley’s only grandson, Michael J. Teel, serves as Raley’s president and CEO, while each of his four sisters, Claudia Doerhoff, Diane Perry, Laurie Struck and Lisa Davidson, serve on the board of directors.

Today, Raley’s, which has its headquarters in West Sacramento and about 13,500 employees, continues to add to its legacy.

Raley’s spokeswoman Amy Davis said that Raley’s is proud of its 75-year commitment to providing quality products and services for its customers.

“We are thrilled to celebrate Raley’s 75th anniversary with the community,” Davis said. “It’s been an honor to serve the greater Sacramento area since 1935. Although our offerings and services have evolved over the years to meet the needs of today’s consumers – including a recipe database on raleys.com, accounts on Twitter and an iPhone app for customers on-the-go – the foundation of customer service built by our founder, Tom Raley, remains constant as we welcome a new generation of customers through our store doors. As a regional, family-operated company, we look forward to serving you and your families for many years to come.”

 

E-mail Lance Armstrong at lance@valcomnews.com.